Cibrarjp  ofthe  'theological  ^eminarp 

PRINCETON  • NEW  JERSEY 

AVV  ///. 

WW 

PRESENTED  BY 

The  Author 
October  25,  1921 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


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THE 

PERI  PLUS  OF  THE  ERYTHRAEAN  SEA 


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OCT  25 1951 


THE  PERI  PLUS 


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OE  the  erythraan  sea 


TRAVEL  AND  TRADE  IN  THE  INDIAN  OCEAN 
BY  A MERCHANT  OF  THE  FIRST  CENTURY 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GREEK  AND  ANNOTATED 

BY 

WILFRED  H.  SCHOFF,  a.  m. 

Secretary  of  the  Commercial  Museum,  Philadelphia 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND  CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  & 30TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 
LONDON,  BOMBAY  AND  CALCUTTA 
19  12 


COPYRIGHT  1912 
BY  THE  COMMERCIAL  MUSEUM 
PHILADELPHIA 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 3 

DATE  AND  AUTHORSHIP  OF  THE  PERIPLUS  7 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  PERIPLUS  17 

THE  PERIPLUS  OF  THE  ERY  THREE  AN  SEA 22 

NOTES  50 

ARTICLES  OF  TRADE  MENTIONED  IN  THE  PERIPLUS.  284 

ARTICLES  SUBJECT  TO  DUTY  AT  ALEXANDRIA  . . .289 

DATE  OF  THE  PERIPLUS  AS  DETERMINED  BY 

VARIOUS  COMMENTATORS 290 

RULERS  MENTIONED  IN  THE  PERIPLUS 294 

INDEX  295 

MAP  TO  ILLUSTRATE  THE  PERIPLUS  . AT  END  OF  BOOK 


FO  REWO  R D 


The  Philadelphia  Museums  came  into  existence  some 
fifteen  years  ago  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  aiding  the  manu- 
facturer in  taking  a larger  share  in  the  world’s  commerce. 

They  have  lost  no  opportunity  in  presenting  to  the  in- 
quirer the  trade  conditions  of  all  parts  of  the  world. 

More  than  four  years  ago  the  Museums  undertook  the 
work  of  making  a graphic  history  of  commerce  from  the  earliest 
dawn  of  trade  and  barter  down  to  the  present  time.  The 
author  of  this  translation  was  entrusted  with  the  study  and 
preparation  of  the  exhibit,  which  in  its  early  stages  of  develop- 
ment was  shown  at  the  Jamestown  exposition.  It  was  in  the 
preparation  of  this  exhibit  that  attention  was  directed  to  the 
Periplus,  and  its  interest  in  the  early  history  of  commerce 
appreciated.  The  Periplus  of  the  Erythraean  Sea  is  the  first 
record  of  organized  trading  with  the  nations  of  the  East,  in 
vessels  built  and  commanded  bv  subjects  of  the  Western  world. 
The  notes  add  great  interest,  giving  as  they  do  an  exhaustive 
survey  of  the  international  trade  between  the  great  empires  of 
Rome,  Parthia,  India  and  China,  together  with  a collection  of 
facts  touching  the  early  trade  of  a number  of  other  countries 
of  much  interest. 

The  whole  trade  of  the  world  is  every  day  coming  more 
and  more  under  exact  laws  of  demand  and  supply.  When  the 
history  of  commerce  from  its  earliest  dawn  to  its  present  tre- 
mendous international  proportions  shall  be  carefully  written, 
the  Periplus  will  furnish  a most  interesting  part  of  such  early 
history,  and  the  Commercial  Museum  will  not  have  to  apologize 
for  rescuing  this  work  from  obscurity  and  presenting  it  to  the 
general  public. 

W.  P.  WILSON,  Sc. D., 

Director. 

Tlie  Philadelphia  Museums 

September,  1911 


INTRODUCTION 


The  Periplus  of  the  Erythraan  Sea  is  one  of  those  human  docu- 
ments, like  the  journals  of  Marco  Polo  and  Columbus  and  Vespucci, 
which  express  not  only  individual  enterprise,  but  the  awakening  of  a 
whole  race  toward  new  fields  of  geographical  discovery  and  commer- 
cial achievement.  It  is  the  first  record  of  organized  trading  with  the 
nations  of  the  East,  in  vessels  built  and  commanded  by  subjects  of 
the  Western  World.  It  marks  the  turning  of  a tide  of  commerce 
which  had  set  in  one  direction,  without  interruption,  from  the  dawn 
of  history.  For  thousands  of  years  before  the  emergence  of  the 
Greeks  from  savagery,  or  before  the  exploits  of  the  Phoenicians  in 
the  Mediterranean  and  Atlantic,  human  culture  and  commerce  had 
centered  in  the  countries  bordering  on  the  Persian  Gulf;  in  Elam 
and  Babylonia,  and  in  the  “whole  land  of  Havilah,  where  there  is 
gold:  and  the  gold  of  that  land  is  good;  there  is  bdellium  and  the 
onyx  stone.”  With  the  spread  of  culture  in  both  directions,  Egypt 
and  the  nations  of  Ancient  India  came  into  being,  and  a commercial 
system  was  developed  for  the  interchange  of  products  within  those 
limits,  having  its  center  of  exchanges  near  the  head  of  the  Persian 
Gulf.  The  peoples  of  that  region,  the  various  Arab  tribes  and  more 
especially  those  ancestors  of  the  Phoenicians,  the  mysterious  Red  Men, 
were  the  active  carriers  or  intermediaries.  The  growth  of  civilization 
in  India  created  an  active  merchant  marine,  trading  to  the  Euphrates  and 
Africa,  and  eastward  we  know  not  whither.  The  Arab  merchants, 
apparently,  tolerated  the  presence  of  Indian  traders  in  Africa,  but 
reserved  for  themselves  the  commerce  within  the  Red  Sea;  that 
lucrative  commerce  which  supplied  precious  stones  and  spices  and 
incense  to  the  ever-increasing  service  of  the  gods  of  Egypt.  This 
was  their  prerogative,  jealously  guarded,  and  upon  this  they  lived  and 
prospered  according  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  muslins 
and  spices  of  India  they  fetched  themselves  or  received  from  the  Indian 
traders  in  their  ports  on  either  side  of  the  Gulf  of  Aden ; carrying  them 
in  turn  over  the  highlands  to  the  upper  Nile,  or  through  the  Red  Sea 
and  across  the  desert  to  Thebes  or  Memphis.  In  the  rare  inter- 
vals when  the  eyes  of  Egypt  were  turned  eastward,  and  voyages  of 
commerce  and  conquest  were  despatched  to  the  Eastern  Ocean,  the 


4 


officers  of  the  Pharaohs  found  the  treasures  of  all  its  shores  gathered 
in  the  nearest  ports,  and  sought  no  further  to  trace  them  to  their 
sources. 

As  the  current  of  trade  gradually  flowed  beyond  the  Nile  and 
Euphrates  to  the  peoples  of  the  north,  and  their  curiosity  began  to 
trace  the  better  things  toward  their  source  in  India,  new  trade-routes 
were  gradually  opened.  The  story  of  the  world  for  many  centuries 
was  that  of  the  struggles  of  the  nations  upon  the  Nile  and  Euphrates 
to  win  all  the  territory  through  which  the  new  routes  passed,  and  so 
to  prevent  the  northern  barbarians  from  trading  with  others  than  them- 
selves. It  was  early  in  this  struggle  that  one  branch  of  the  people 
known  as  Phoenicians  left  their  home  on  the  Persian  Gulf  and  settled 
on  the  Mediterranean,  there  to  win  in  the  West  commercial  glories 
which  competition  in  the  East  was  beginning  to  deny  them.  The 
Greek  colonies,  planted  at  the  terminus  of  every  trade-route,  gained 
for  themselves  a measure  of  commercial  independence;  but  never 
until  the  overthrow  of  the  East  by  the  great  Alexander  was  the  control 
of  the  great  overland  caravan-routes  threatened  by  a western  people, 
and  his  early  death  led  to  no  more  than  a readjustment  of  conditions 
as  they  had  always  existed. 

Meantime  the  brethren  of  the  Phoenicians  and  their  kinsfolk  in 
Arabia  continued  in  control  of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  East,  subject 
to  their  agreements  and  alliances  with  the  merchants  of  India.  One 
Arab  kingdom  after  another  retained  the  great  eastern  coast  of  Africa, 
with  its  trade  in  gold  and  ivory,  ostrich  feathers  and  oil;  the  shores 
of  the  Arabian  .Gulf  produced  an  ever-rising  value  in  frankincense 
and  myrrh;  while  the  cloths  and  precious  stones,  the  timbers  and 
spices — particularly  cinnamon — brought  from  India  largely  by  Indian 
vessels,  were  redistributed  at  Socotra  or  Guardafui,  and  carried  to 
the  Nile  and  the  Mediterranean.  Gerrha  and  Obollah,  Palmyra  and 
Petra,  Sabbatha  and  Mariaba  were  all  partners  in  this  commercial 
system.  The  Egyptian  nation  in  its  later  struggles  made  no  effort  to 
oppose  or  control  it.  The  trade  came  and  the  price  was  paid.  And 
the  infusion  of  Greek  energy  after  Alexander’s  day,  when  the  Ptole- 
mies had  made  Egypt  once  more  mistress  of  the  nations,  led  to 
nothing  more  than  the  conquest  of  a few  outposts  on  the  Red  Sea' 
and  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Aden ; while  the  accounts  of  Agathar- 
chides  are  sufficient  proof  of  the  opulence  which  came  to  Southern 
Arabia  with  the  increase  of  prosperity  in  Egypt.  Here,  indeed,  the 
trade  control  was  more  complete  than  ever;  for  changes  in  the  topog- 
raphy of  India,  the  westward  shifting  of  the  Indus  delta,  the  shoal- 
ing of  the  harbors  in  the  Cutch  region,  and  the  disorder  incident  to 


5 


great  invasions  of  Asiatic  peoples,  had  sapped  the  vigor  of  the  Indian 
sea-trade. 

But  in  Arabia  itself  there  were  struggles  for  the  control  of  all  this 
wealth  and  power,  and  in  the  days  of  the  later  Ptolemies  kingdoms 
rose  and  fell  and  passed  into  oblivion  with  bewildering  frequency. 
The  African  coast  was  left  to  its  own  people  and  to  the  remnants  of 
the  Indian  trade,  and  one  Arab  tribe  maintained  itself  at  the  Straits, 
while  its  defeated  adversary,  establishing  itself  in  the  old  “land  of 
Cush,”  was  building  up  the  kingdom  of  Abyssinia,  whose  ambitions 
were  bitterly  opposed  to  the  state  which  possessed  its  former  home 
in  the  “Frankincense  Country”  of  Arabia. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  rule  of  the  Ptolemies  came  to  an 
end  under  Cleopatra,  and  the  new  ruler  of  the  Western  World,  the 
Empire  of  Rome,  came  into  possession  of  Egypt,  and  thus  added  to 
its  control  of  the  caravan-routes  previously  won  in  Asia  Minor  and 
Syria,  that  of  a direct  sea-route  to  the  East,  by  way  of  the  Ptolemies’ 
outposts  on  the  Red  Sea. 

The  prize  thus  within  reach  of  the  Roman  people  was  a rich 
one.  Successive  conquests  and  spoliation  of  all  the  Mediterranean 
peoples  had  brought  to  Rome  treasures  as  yet  unexampled,  and  a taste 
for  the  precious  things  of  the  East  was  developed  almost  over-night. 
The  public  triumphs  of  the  conquerors  of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria  glit- 
tered with  new  treasures,  for  which  the  people  clamored.  Money 
was  plentiful  and  merchants  flocked  thither  from  all  quarters.  Within 
a generation  the  center  of  exchanges  of  the  Mediterranean  was  moved 
from  Alexandria  to  Rome.  But  a wise  decision  of  the  Emperor 
Augustus,  only  once  departed  from  and  that  disastrously,  limited  the 
Roman  dominion  to  the  bank  of  the  Euphrates;  so  that  all  this  rich 
trade  that  flowed  to  Rome  paid  its  tolls  to  the  Empire  of  Parthia  and 
to  the  Arab  kingdoms,  unless  Rome  could  develop  and  control  a 
sea-borne  trade  to  India. 

Against  such  an  enterprise  all  the  energy  and  subtlety  of  the  Arab 
was  called  into  action.  No  information  was  allowed  to  reach  the 
merchants  in  Egypt,  and  every  device  the  imagination  could  create 
was  directed  toward  discouraging  the  least  disturbance  of  the  channels 
of  trade  that  had  existed  since  human  memory  began.  And  in  an 
unknown  ocean,  with  only  the  vaguest  ideas  of  the  sources  of  the 
products  they  sought,  and  the  routes  that  led  to  them,  it  might  have 
been  many  years  before  a Roman  vessel,  coasting  along  hostile 
shores,  could  reach  the  goal.  But  accidents  favored  Roman  ambi- 
tion. The  new  kingdom  at  Axum,  smarting  under  the  treatment  of 
its  former  neighbors  in  Arabia,  was  courting  the  Roman  alliance. 


6 


The  old  trading-posts  at  Guardafui,  formerly  under  Arab  control,  were 
now  free,  through  the  quarrels  of  their  overlords,  and  their  markets 
were  open  to  who  might  seek.  And  then  a Roman  subject,  perhaps 
in  the  Abyssinian  service,  was  driven  to  sea  and  carried  in  an  open 
boat  to  India,  whence  he  returned  in  a few  months  with  a favorable 
wind  and  much  information.  Then  Hippalus,  a venturesome  navi- 
gator whose  name  deserved  as  much  honor  in  Roman  annals  as  that 
of  Columbus  in  modern  history,  observed  the  periodic  change  of  the 
Indian  monsoon  (doubtless  long  known  to  Arab  and  Hindu),  and 
boldly  setting  sail  at  the  proper  season  made  a successful  trading  voy- 
age and  returned  with  a cargo  of  all  those  things  for  which  Rome 
was  paying  so  generously:  gems  and  pearls,  ebony  and  sandalwood, 
balms  and  spices,  but  especially  pepper.  The  old  channels  of  trade 
were  paralleled  but  not  conquered;  so  strong  was  the  age-long  un- 
derstanding between  Arab  and  Hindu,  that  cinnamon,  which  had 
made  the  fortune  of  traders  to  Egypt  in  earlier  times,  was  still  found 
by  the  Romans  only  at  Guardafui  and  was  scrupulously  kept  from 
their  knowledge  in  the  markets  of  India,  where  it  was  gathered  and 
distributed;  while  the  leaf  of  the  same  tree  producing  that  precious 
bark  was  freely  offered  to  the  Roman  merchants  throughout  the 
Malabar  coast,  and  as  malabathrum  formed  the  basis  of  one  of  their 
most  valued  ointments. 

Great  shiftings  of  national  power  followed  this  entry  of  Roman 
shipping  into  the  Indian  Ocean.  One  by  one  Petra  and  Gerrha, 
Palmyra  and  Parthia  itself,  their  revenues  sapped  by  the  diversion  of 
accustomed  trade,  fell  into  Roman  hands.  The  Homerite  Kingdom 
in  South  Arabia  fell  upon  hard  times,  its  capital  into  ruin,  and  some 
of  its  best  men  migrated  northward  and  as  the  Ghassanids  bowed  the 
neck  to  Rome.  Abyssinia  flourished  in  proportion  as  its  old  enemy 
declined.  If  this  state  of  things  had  continued,  the  whole  course  of 
later  events  might  have  been  changed.  Islam  might  never  have  appeared, 
and  a greater  Rome  might  have  left  its  system  of  law  and  government 
from  the  Thames  to  the  Ganges.  But  the  logic  of  history  was  too 
strong.  Gradually  the  treasure  that  fell  to  the  Roman  arms  was  ex- 
pended in  suppressing  insurrections  in  the  conquered  provinces,  in 
civil  wars  at  home,  and  in  a constant  drain  of  specie  to  the  east  in 
settlement  of  adverse  trade  balances;  a drain  which  was  very  real 
and  menacing  to  a nation  which  made  no  notable  advance  in  produc- 
tion or  industry  by  means  of  which  new  wealth  could  be  created.  As 
the  resources  of  the  West  diminished  the  center  of  exchange  shifted 
to  Constantinople.  The  trade-routes  leading  to  that  center  were  the 
old  routes  through  Mesopotamia,  where  a revivified  power  under  the 


7 


Sassanids  was  able  to  conquer  every  passage  to  the  East,  including 
even  the  proud  Arab  states  which  had  not  yielded  submission  to  Ham- 
murabi or  Esarhaddon,  Nebuchadrezzar  or  Darius  the  Great.  Egypt, 
no  longer  in  the  highway  of  commerce,  became  a mere  granary  for 
Constantinople,  and  Abyssinia,  driven  from  its  hard-won  footholds 
east  of  the  Red  Sea,  could  offer  the  Byzantine  emperors  no  effective 
aid  in  checking  the  revival  of  Eastern  power.  And  the  whirlwind  of 
activity  let  loose  by  Mohammed  welded  the  Eastern  World  as  no  force 
had  yet  done,  and  brought  the  West  for  another  millennium  to  its 
feet.  Not  until  the  coming  of  those  vast  changes  in  industry  and 
transportation  which  marked  the  nineteenth  century  did  the  Western 
nations  find  commodities  of  which  the  East  stood  in  need,  and  laying 
them  down  in  Eastern  markets  on  their  own  terms,  turn  back  the 
channels  of  trade  from  their  ancient  direction. 

The  records  of  the  pioneers,  who  strove  during  the  ages  to  stem 
this  irresistible  current,  are  of  enduring  interest  in  the  story  of  human 
endeavor;  and  among  them  all,  one  of  the  most  fascinating  is  this 
Periplus  of  the  Erythraan  Sea — this  plain  and  painstaking  log  of  a 
Greek  in  Egypt,  a Roman  subject,  who  steered  his  vessel  into  the 
waters  of  the  great  ocean  and  brought  back  the  first  detailed  record  of 
the  imports  and  exports  of  its  markets,  and  of  the  conditions  and  alli- 
ances of  its  peoples.  It  is  the  only  record  for  centuries  that  speaks 
with  authority  on  this  trade  in  its  entirety,  and  the  gloom  which  it 
briefly  lighted  was  not  lifted  until  the  wider  activities  of  Islam  broke 
the  time-honored  custom  of  Arab  secrecy  in  trading,  and  by  grafting 
Arab  discovery  on  Greek  theory,  laid  the  foundations  of  modern  ge- 
ography. Not  Strabo  or  Pliny  or  Ptolemy,  however  great  the  store  of 
knowledge  they  gathered  together,  can  equal  in  human  interest  this 
unknown  merchant  who  wrote  merely  of  the  things  he  dealt  in  and 
the  peoples  he  met — those  peoples  of  whom  our  civilization  still  knows 
so  little  and  to  whom  it  owes  so  much;  who  brought  to  the  restless 
West  the  surplus  from  the  ordered  and  industrious  East,  and  in  so 
doing  ruled  the  waters  of  the  Erythraean  Sea.” 

THE  DATE  AND  AUTHORSHIP  OF  THE  PERIPLUS 

The  manuscript  copies  of  the  Periplus  at  Heidelberg  and  London 
do  not  enable  us  to  fix  either  date  or  authorship.  The  Heidelberg 
manuscript  attributes  the  work  to  Arrian,  apparently  because  in  that 
manuscript  this  Periplus  follows  a report  of  a voyage  around  the  Black 
Sea  made  by  the  historian  Arrian,  who  was  governor  of  Cappadocia 
about  131  A.  D.  This  is  manifestly  a mistake,  and  the  London 
manuscript  does  not  contain  that  reference. 


8 


The  only  guidance  to  date  or  authorship  must  be  found  in  the 
Periplus  itself. 

Hippalus’  discovery  of  the  sea-route  to  India,  described  in  § 57, 
is  fixed  by  Vincent  at  about  47  A.  D. 

Vincent  reasons  from  Pliny’s  account  (VI,  24)  of  the  accidental 
journey  of  a freedman  of  Annius  Plocamus  who  had  farmed  from 
the  Treasury  the  revenuesarising  from  the  Red  Sea.  This  freedman 
was  carried  away  by  a gale  and  in  fifteen  days  drifted  to  Ceylon,  where 
he  was  hospitably  received  and  after  a stay  of  six  months  returned 
home;  after  which  the  Ceylonese  kings  sent  an  embassy  to  Rome. 
Pliny  says  that  this  occurred  during  the  reign  of  Emperor  Claudius, 
which  began  in  the  year  41.  The  discovery  of  Hippalus  must  have 
come  very  soon  after.  (The  first  question  suggested  by  this  story  is, 
what  the  freedman  was  doing  outside  the  Straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb 
and  from  whom  Annius  Plocamus  farmed  the  revenues.  As  to  this 
Pliny  is  silent.  Can  it  have  been  the  friendly  Abyssinians,  or  were  the 
Greek  colonies  in  Arabia  still  in  existence?) 

The  discovery  of  Hippalus,  described  in  § 57,  seems  to  have  oc- 
curred not  long  before  the  author  of  the  Periplus  made  his  voyage. 
He  evidently  feels  a deep  respect  for  the  discoverer,  and  goes  on  to 
say  that  “ from  that  time  until  now”  voyages  could  be  made  directly 
across  the  ocean  by  the  monsoon. 

Pliny  has  but  a passing  reference  to  Hippalus,  suggesting  that 
between  73  and  77  A.  D.  when  he  was  writing,  the  memory  of  the 
discoverer  had  faded  somewhat  from  view. 

Assuming  50  A.  D.  as  a date  earlier  than  which  this  Periplus 
can  not  have  been  written,  we  must  look  next  for  a limit  on  the  other 
side. 

In  § 38  is  mentioned  “the  sea-coast  of  Scythia”  around  the 
mouth  of  the  Indus,  and  the  metropolis  of  Scythia,  Minnagara,  which 
was  “subject  to  Parthian  princes  at  war  among  themselves.” 

In  § 41  is  mentioned  another  city  Minnagara,  which,  as  indicated 
in  the  notes,  is  simply  the  Hindu  name  for  “city  of  the  invaders.” 

In  § 47  is  mentioned  the  “very  war-like  inland  nation  of  the 
Bactrians. 

As  explained  in  the  notes,  the  Scythians  of  the  Periplus  are  the 
Saka  tribe,  who  had  been  driven  from  Eastern  T urkestan  by  the  Yueh- 
chi,  and  overran  Beluchistan,  the  lower  Indus  valley,  and  adjacent 
parts  of  the  coast  of  India  itself.  They  submitted  to  the  Parthian 
Kingdom,  of  which  they  formed  an  important  part.  Their  south- 
ern extension  under  Sandares,  the  ruler  mentioned  in  § 52,  indicates 
a growing  pressure  from  the  Kushan  kingdom  on  the  north,  but  prior 


9 


to  the  conquest  of  this  whole  country  by  the  Kushans,  which  occurred 
soon  after  95  A.  D.  The  “war-like  nation  of  the  Bactrians”  is  the 
tribe  of  Yueh-chi  or  Kushans,  formerly  subject  to  China,  who,  after 
being  driven  westward  by  the  Huns,  overran  the  Greek  kingdom  of 
Bactria  and  set  up  there  a powerful  kingdom  which,  early  in  the  second 
century  A.  D.,  conquered  most  of  northern  India.  The  conditions  in 
the  text  indicate  a time  before  this  nation  had  commenced  its  conquests 
in  the  valleys  of  the  Indus  and  Ganges,  and  probably  before  the  great 
defeat  of  its  king  Kadphises  by  the  Chinese  general  Panchao  near 
Khotan,  which  occurred  in  90  A.  D.  A defeat  of  this  magnitude 
must  certainly  have  been  reported  throughout  India  and  would  not  have 
led  our  author  to  refer  to  the  nation  as  “very  warlike.”  Thus  we 
arrive  at  two  dates,  90  and  95  A.  D.,  later  than  which  this  Periplus 
can  not  have  been  written. 

In  §§  4 and  5 our  author  mentions  the  city  of  the  Axumites,  and 
the  territory,  coast  and  inland,  ruled  over  by  Zoscales;  whom  Henry 
Salt  identified  with  the  name  “Za  Hakale”  found  by  him  in  the 
Tank  Negusti  or  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Abyssinia.  The  duration 
of  this  Za  Hakale’ s reign,  according  to  the  Chronicle,  was  thirteen 
years,  and  his  dates  Salt  fixes  at  76  to  89  A.  D.,  following  a note  in 
the  Chronicle  that  the  birth  of  Christ  took  place  in  the  eighth  year  of 
one  of  Za  Hakale’ s predecessors,  Zabaesi  Bazen.  The  date  of  the 
accession  of  this  Zabaesi  Bazen  was  84  years  prior  to  that  of  Za  Ha- 
kale. Salt’s  identification  of  the  name  is  probably  correct,  but  the 
dates  as  they  stand  in  the  Chronicles  were  written  some  centuries 
after  the  events,  and  can  hardly  be  accepted  as  safe  authority  in  the 
absence  of  other  evidence.  The  fact  that  nearly  all  the  reigns  are 
given  as  lasting  an  even  number  of  years,  or  else  as  so  many  years  and 
six  months,  shows  that  the  chroniclers  were  only  estimating  the  time. 
Salt  himself  was  obliged  to  rearrange  their  chronology  in  order  to  fit 
it  to  known  facts,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  his  rearrangement  has 
slipped  in  a whole  reign  before  that  of  Za  Hakale.  Obviously  Salt’s 
names  are  worth  more  than  his  dates.  South  Arabian  inscriptions  dis- 
covered by  Glaser  indicate  the  separation  of  Axum  from  its  mother-land, 
the  Habash  or  Ethiopia  of  South  Arabia,  not  long  before  the  date  of 
the  Periplus;  and  the  fact  that  there  is  no  mention  of  Axum  in  any 
work  earlier  than  the  Periplus,  and  not  even  in  Pliny,  suggests  the 
same  conclusion;  namely,  that  the  Abyssinian  Chronicles  are  unreli- 
able, at  any  rate  in  their  earlier  portions.  They  count  as  independent 
kings  a number  of  rulers  who  must  have  been  subject  to  the  Arabian 
mother-land;  the  order  of  events  they  relate  is  uncertain,  and  their 
dates  are  merely  approximations. 


10 


Even  if  the  dates  in  the  Chronicle,  and  Salt’s  identification  of 
Zoscales  with  Za  Hakale  were  strictly  correct,  the  date  generally  ac- 
cepted for  the  birth  of  Christ,  5 B.  C. , would  bring  Za  Hakale’ s 
accession  down  to  71  A.  D.  and  his  death  to  84. 

Nearly  all  the  commentators  think  that  the  Periplus  is  earlier  than 
Pliny’ s Natural  History,  which  is  known  to  have  been  published  be- 
tween 73  and  77  A.  D.  The  principal  indication  is  their  similarity  in 
the  description  of  Arabia  Felix,  where  Pliny  seems  to  condense  the 
Periplus;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  statements  in  Pliny’s 
sixth  book  which  describe  facts  in  disagreement  with,  and  probably 
earlier  than,  the  Periplus.  Of  course  Pliny  was  a compiler  and  copy- 
ist, and  usually  not  very  discriminating,  and  he  may  have  chosen  to  follow 
the  Periplus  only  where  it  did  not  contradict  the  earlier  accounts  of 
King  Juba  II  of  Mauretania,  for  whose  knowledge  he  repeatedly  ex- 
pressed respect.  Pliny  has  much  more  information  about  Meroe  than 
appears  in  the  Periplus,  but  he  does  not  mention  Axum.  He  ends 
the  African  coast  at  the  Promontory  of  Mosyllum  and  says  that  the 
Atlantic  Sea  begins  there.  In  this  he  follows  King  Juba;  but  had  he 
known  the  Periplus  he  ought  to  have  included  the  African  coast  as  far 
as  Zanzibar.  He  has  an  account  of  Mariaba,  the  royal  city  of  Arabia 
Felix,  which  the  Periplus  has  not.  He  quotes  Aelius  Gallus,  writing 
in  24  B.  C.,  as  stating  that  the  Sabaeans  are  the  richest  tribe  in  south- 
ern Arabia.  The  Periplus,  however,  has  them  subject  to  the  Homer- 
ites,  who  receive  only  passing  mention  from  Aelius  Gallus. 

One  is  tempted  to  imagine  that  Pliny’s  account  of  the  voyage  to 
India  (VI,  26)  in  which  he  refers  to  “information  on  which  reliance 
may  be  placed,  here  published  for  the  first  time,”  refers  to  the  Peri- 
plus, then  existing  merely  as  a merchant’s  diary;  and  Glaser  has  based 
much  of  his  argument  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  Periplus  on  that  pass- 
age; but  Pliny  goes  on  to  describe  a voyage  different  in  many  ways 
from  that  of  the  Periplus,  and  giving  quite  a different  account  of  the 
coast  of  India.  At  the  time  Pliny  wrote,  the  sea-route  to  India  had 
been  opened  for  nearly  thirty  years,  and  he  might  have  had  this  infor- 
mation from  any  sea-captain,  as  indeed  he  might  have  had  the  facts 
concerning  Arabia  Felix  which  seem  to  be  in  such  close  agreement 
with  the  Periplus.  The  argument  that  Pliny,  whose  work  was  dedi- 
cated in  77  A.  D.,  borrowed  from  the  Periplus  is,  then,  suggestive  and 
even  plausible,  but  by  no  means  conclusive. 

Returning  to  § 41,  the  reference  to  the  anarchy  in  the  Indo-Par- 
thian  or  Saka  region  does  not  suggest  the  consolidated  power  of  that 
King  of  Kathiawar  and  Ujjain  who  founded  the  so-called  Saka  era 
of  78  A.  D. ; indicating  for  the  Periplus  a date  earlier  than  that  era. 


u 


Mention  of  the  “land  of  This”  in  § 64,  is  helpful.  This  seems 
evidently  to  be  the  state  of  Ts’in  in  northwest  China,  at  the  date  of 
the  Periplus  the  most  powerful  of  the  states  of  China,  and  actively  en- 
gaged in  pushing  Chinese  boundaries  and  influence  westward  across 
Turkestan.  The  capital  city  is  supposed  to  be  the  modern  Singanfu. 
The  text  says  that  “silk  is  brought  overland  from  that  country  to 
Bactria  and  India,  ’ ’ but  that  “few  men  come  from  there  and  seldom. 
This  suggests  a time  when  the  trade-routes  across  Turkestan  were  still 
in  turmoil  and  before  the  conquests  of  the  Chinese  general  Panchao. 
The  route  north  of  the  desert  of  Turkestan  was  finally  opened  by  him 
in  94  A.  D.,  while  the  route  south  of  the  desert  was  opened  as  early 
as  73  A.  D. , indicating  that  the  Periplus  must  be  fixed  before  that  date. 

In  § 19  is  mentioned  Malichas,  king  of  the  Nabataeans.  As 
Fabricius  has  pointed  out,  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  indica- 
tions of  date  contained  in  the  text.  Josephus  in  his  Wars  of  the 
Jews  mentions  a Malchus,  king  of  Arabia,  under  which  name  he 
always  refers  to  the  Nabataean  kingdom,  as  having  assisted  Titus  in 
his  expedition  against  Jerusalem,  which  he  destroyed  in  the  year  70 
A.  D.  ( Bell.  Jud.,  Ill,  4,  § 2);  and  Vogue  in  his  Syrie  Centrale, 
Semitic  Inscriptions,  p.  107,  confirms  that  a Nabataean  king 
Aretas  (Hareth),  contemporary  with  the  Emperors  Tiberius  and  Ca- 
ligula, had  a son  Malik,  or  Malchus  III,  who  reigned  about  40  to  70 
A.  D.  It  was  a sister  of  this  Malchus  who  married  Herod  Antipas, 
tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and  was  abandoned  by  Herod  for  his  brother  Philip’ s 
wife,  Herodias,  mother  of  Salome.  (Josephus,  Ant.  Jud.  XVIII,  8). 
This  action  of  Herod  brought  him  to  war  with  his  father-in-law, 
Aretas,  and  doubtless  explains  to  some  extent  the  policy  of  Malichas 
in  assisting  Rome  against  Judea.  This  must  have  been  the  same  as 
the  Malichas  of  the  text,  and  his  action  against  Jerusalem  must  have 
been  near  the  end  of  his  reign.  It  is  fair  to  infer  that  if  the  Periplus 
had  been  written  after  that  expedition,  Malichas  also  would  have  been 
called,  like  Charibael  in  § 23,  a “friend  of  the  Emperor,”  and  there- 
fore that  the  Periplus  was  written  before  Titus’  campaign  of  the  year  70. 

In  §§  23  and  27  we  have  the  names  of  Charibael,  king  of  the 
two  tribes,  the  Homerites  and  the  Sabaites,  and  of  Eleazus,  king  of 
the  Frankincense  Country.  It  was  the  opinion  of  Glaser,  based  on 
inscriptions  discovered  by  him  in  South  Arabia,  that  both  these  names 
were  titles  rather  than  personal  names,  and  that  they  were  borne  by  sev- 
eral rulers  during  the  first  century  A.  D.  His  incription  No.  1619 
mentions  a king  Eleazus  who  was  ruler  in  29  A.  D. , and  a king  Cha- 
ribael whose  reign  was  from  .about  40  to  70  A.  D.  The  mention  of 
Charibael  as  “a  friend  of  the  Emperors”  might  answer  for  a date 


12 


under  Vespasian  after  the  succession  of  short  reigns  that  followed 
Nero;  but  the  years  of  turmoil  throughout  the  Roman  Empire,  for  sev- 
eral years  after  the  death  of  Nero,  were  not  years  of  prosperous  trade 
such  as  the  Periplus  describes.  This  reference  indicates  a date  early 
in  the  reign  of  Nero,  before  the  memory  of  his  predecessor  Claudius 
had  faded;  roughly,  any  time  between  54  and  60  A.  D. 

In  § 23  is  a reference  to  the  recent  destruction  of  Arabia  Eudae- 
mon.  Our  present  knowledge  of  Arabian  history  does  not  give  us 
any  positive  date  for  the  war  leading  to  the  destruction  of  thisSabaean 
port,  but  the  inscriptions  discovered  and  commented  on  by  Glaser 
point  to  a time  after  the  middle  of  the  first  century. 

In  § 2 our  author  mentions  the  city  of  Meroe.  This  capital  of 
the  Nubian  kingdom  was  severely  treated  by  the  Romans  soon  after 
their  occupation  of  Egypt.  The  Nubian  queen  Candace  had  attacked 
Egypt ; and  an  expedition  sent  out  against  her  under  Petronius  annihi- 
lated her  army  and  destroyed  many  of  her  cities,  including  that  of 
Napata.  This  was  in  B.  C.  22.  T hat  another  queen  Candace  of 
Nubia  retained  considerable  power  in  the  first  half  of  the  first  century 
A.  D.  is  shown  in  Acts  VIII,  27.  After  this,  Pliny  relates,  the 
savage  tribes  of  the  neighboring  deserts  came  down,  and  plundered 
what  was  left  of  the  Nubian  Kingdom,  so  that  an  expedition  of  in- 
quiry sent  by  the  emperor  Nero  (Pliny,  VI,  35)  when  he  was 
contemplating  a campaign  in  the  South,  ventured  as  far  as  Meroe 
and  reported  that  they  had  met  with  nothing  but  deserts  on  their  routes; 
that  the  buildings  in  Meroe  itself  were  but  few  in  number  and  were 
still  ruled  over  by  a queen  named  Candace,  that  name  having  passed 
from  queen  to  queen  for  many  years.  This  state  of  things  can  be 
fixed  at  about  67  A.  D.  It  is  obviously  later  than  the  account  in  the 
Periplus. 

Very  soon  after  Pliny’s  time  Meroe  must  have  been  destroyed, 
as  the  name  does  not  appear  again  for  several  centuries. 

A suggestive  fact  is  that  the  Periplus  tells  only  of  the  great  increase 
in  trade  with  India,  and  has  no  mention  of  a cessation  or  decline  of 
that  trade  consequent  upon  the  burning  of  Rome,  July  19-25  in  the  year 
64.  Ten  out  of  the  fourteen  districts  of  the  city  were  destroyed. 
The  loss  was  not  equalized;  fire  insurance  did  not  exist.  It  is  true 
that  this  great  calamity  hardly  receives  mention  in  Pliny's  work.  He 
refers  to  the  baseless  story  of  Nero’s  having  started  the  fire,  and  in 
several  passages  to  the  destruction  of  buildings,  temples  and  the  like, 
always  with  some  reticence.  In  many  places,  however,  once  in  so 
many  words,  he  mentions  the  crisis  through  which  Rome  passed  in  the 
later  years  of  Nero  and  his  short-lived  successors,  and  of  the  “rest 


13 


brought  t r an  exhausted  empire”  by  the  strong  hand  of  Vespasian. 
But  in  a work  distinctly  of  a commercial  nature,  written  far  from  Rome 
but  relating  to  a commerce  whose  sudden  expansion  was  due  entirely  to 
Roman  demand,  some  mention  of  the  trade  depression  that  must  have 
followed  such  a destruction  of  capital  and  the  ensuing  political  dis- 
order, would  have  been  most  probable.  The  facts  of  this  conflagra- 
tion and  of  its  effects  upon  trade  ar"e  thought  to  be  stated  in  Revelation, 
c.  XVIII,  and,  notwithstanding  the  different  point  of  view  of  the 
writer  of  that  book,  the  circumstances  he  describes  are  of  importance 
here. 

“ And  the  kings  of  the  earth  . . . shall  bewail  her,  and  lament 
for  her,  when  they  shall  see  the  smoke  of  her  burning,  . . . and 

the  merchants  of  the  earth  shall  weep  and  mourn  over  her;  for  no 
man  buyeth  their  merchandise  any  more:  the  merchandise  of  gold, 
and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  and  of  pearls,  and  fine  linen,  and 
purple,  and  silk,  and  scarlet,  and  all  sweet  wood,  and  all  manner 
vessels  of  ivory,  and  all  manner  vessels  of  most  precious  wood,  and 
of  brass,  and  iron,  and  marble,  and  cinnamon,  and  odours,  and  oint- 
ments, and  frankincense,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  fine  flour,  and 
wheat,  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and  horses,  and  chariots,  and  slaves, 
and  souls  of  men  ....  The  merchants  of  these  things,  which 
were  made  rich  by  her,  shall  stand  afar  off  for  the  fear  of  her  tor- 
ment, weeping  and  wailing,  and  saying,  Alas,  alas,  that  great  city, 
that  was  clothed  in  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  decked 
with  gold,  and  precious  stones,  and  pearls!  For  in  one  hour  so  great 
riches  is  come  to  nought.  And  every  shipmaster,  and  all  the  com- 
pany in  ships,  and  sailors,  and  as  many  as  trade  by  sea,  stood  afar  off, 
and  cried  when  they  saw  the  smoke  of  her  burning,  saying,  What 
city  is  like  unto  this  great  city!  And  they  cast  dust  on  their  heads 
and  cried,  weeping  and  wailing,  saying,  Alas,  alas,  that  great  city, 
wherein  were  made  rich  all  that  had  ships  in  the  sea  by  reason  of  her 
costliness!  ....  For  thy  merchants  were  the  great  men  of  the 
earth.” 

Now  our  author  was  one  of  those  same  shipmasters  trading  by 
sea;  but  in  his  account  there  is  no  suggestion  of  standing  afar  off, 
weeping  and  wailing,  such  as  would  probably  have  appeared  if  he  were 
writing  after  that  great  disaster. 

Following  the  discovery  of  Flippalus  there  seems  to  have  been  a 
Sudden  and  enormous  increase  in  the  Roman  trade  with  India,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  importation  of  Indian  products.  The  Periplus,  in 
§10,  refers  to  the  ‘ ‘ larger  ships  ’ ’ now  needed  for  the  cinnamon  trade. 
This  increase,  particularly  in  the  importation  of  luxuries,  can  De 


14 


ascribed  to  the  fashion  of  extravagance  set  by  Nero’s  court,  during  the 
ascendancy  of  his  favorite  Sabina  Poppiea,  whose  influence  lasted 
from  58  until  her  death  in  65  A.  D.  Pliny’s  reference  to  the  enor- 
mous quantity  of  spices  used  at  Poppaea’s  funeral  (XII,  41)  indicates 
such  an  increased  trade;  which  he  further  confirms  (VI,  26)  by  stat- 
ing that  specie  amounting  to  about  S22, 000, 000  per  year  was  required 
to  balance  the  trade,  and  that  these  Indian  imports  sold  in  Rome  at 
one  hundred  times  their  cost.  Pliny’s  figures  are  untrustworthy,  as 
in  XII,  41,  he  estimates  a little  over  $4,000,000  as  the  balance  of 
specie  required  for  the  entire  trade  with  India,  Arabia  and  China; 
but  a sudden  increase  in  commerce  is  none  the  less  evident. 

The  absence  of  any  description  in  the  Periplus  of  trade  with  the 
coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  then  subject  to  Parthia,  suggests  that  it 
was  written  at  a time  when  Rome  and  Parthia  were  at  war.  Our 
author’s  descriptions,  even  of  the  southern  coast  of  Arabia,  stop 
at  the  Frankincense  Country  and  its  dependency,  the  island  of  Masira; 
and  he  explains  that  the  coast  beyond  the  islands  of  Kuria  Muria  was 
<(  subject  to  Persia”  and  thus  closed  to  him.  According  to  the 
account  given  by  Rawlinson,  (Sixt/i  Alonarchy,  XVI,)  conflicting  claims 
as  to  the  Armenian  succession  led  Rome  to  make  war  on  Parthia  in 
55  A.  D.,  the  second  year  of  Nero’s  reign.  The  Parthians,  at  the 
time  occupied  with  civil  war  in  the  South  (possibly  even  in  their 
newly-acquired  South  Arabian  possessions),  gave  hostages  and  aband- 
oned their  Armenian  pretensions;  which,  however,  they  reasserted  in 
58,  when  war  broke  out  anew.  Hostilities  continued  in  a desultory 
way  until  62,  when  the  two  powers  agreed  upon  a mutual  evacuation  of 
Armenia  and  a settlement  of  the  dispute  by  a Parthian  embassy  which 
was  to  visit  Rome.  This  truce  occurred  in  the  summer  of  62.  The 
embassy  made  its  visit  in  the  autumn  and  returned  without  a treaty. 
The  truce  was  broken  the  same  winter  by  a Roman  invasion  of 
Armenia,  which  was  repulsed  and  the  truce  renewed.  A second 
Parthian  embassy  to  Rome  in  the  spring  of  63  settled  the  matter  by 
placing  a Parthian  prince  on  the  Armenian  throne  and  requiring  him 
to  receive  investiture  from  the  Roman  Emperor.  This  ceremony 
occurred  in  65  A.  D. 

Hostilities  between  the  two  countries  certainly  ceased  in  the 
winter  of  62  and  probably,  as  far  as  commercial  interests  were  con- 
cerned, in  the  summer  of  that  year.  Therefore,  the  date  of  the 
Periplus,  or  at  any  rate  the  date  of  the  voyage  on  which  it  was  based, 
can  probably  be  fixed  at  not  later  than  the  summer  of  62  and  not  earlier 
than  the  summer  of  58. 

The  possibilities  are  rather  in  favor  of  the  second  or  third  year  of 


15 


the  renewed  Roman-Parthian  war,  when  the  Parthian  power  had  fully 
recovered  from  the  disorders  in  the  South. 

The  nearest  single  year  that  suggests  itself  as  the  date  of  the 
Periplus  is,  therefore,  60  A.  D. 


As  to  the  authorship,  it  is  best  to  admit  that  nothing  is  known. 
Fabricius  in  his  first  edition  of  the  Periplus  attributed  it  to  an  Alex- 
andrian merchant  named  Arrian,  but  other  editions,  and  kabricius’ 
own  second  edition,  remove  the  name  altogether. 

Glaser,  in  an  article  published  in  Ausland,  1891,  pp.  45-46,  pre- 
sents an  argument  that  seems  too  tempting  to  be  true.  He  assumes 
that  the  sixth  book  of  Pliny  quotes  from  the  Periplus;  that  the  “ here- 
tofore unpublished  account,”  which  Pliny  mentions,  was  that  of  our 
author;  that  his  work  could  have  been  quoted  in  no  other  book  of 
Pliny,  and  therefore  that  by  comparison  of  the  indices  of  authorities 
which  Pliny  puts  at  the  end  of  each  book,  any  name  appearing  in  the 
sixth  book  only  would  be  the  name  of  our  author.  By  such  means 
Glaser  arrives  at  the  name  Basilis,  and  in  all  his  references  to  the 
Periplus  after  the  date  of  that  article,  he  is  careful  to  cite — “Basilis, 
author  of  the  Periplus,  56  to  67  A.  I).”  But  Pliny  himself  in  that 
same  book  (VI,  35)  refers  to  Basilis  as  the  author  of  an  account  of 
Meroe  and  the  upper  Nile,  apparently  considerably  earlier  than  the 
expedition  of  Petronius  against  Nubia  in  24  to  22  B.  C. ; and  a work 
on  India,  also  by  Basilis,  is  quoted  by  Agatharchides  (Ap.  Phot.  p. 
454  b.  34,  ed.  Bekker),  whose  work  on  the  Erythraean  Sea  was  writ- 
ten about  113  B.  C. , a century  and  a half  before  the  Periplus.  It 
seems  to  be  this  same  Basilis,  rather  than  a later  writer  of  like  name, 
whose  Indica  is  quoted  by  Athenaeus  ( Deipnos . IX,  390,  b),  who 
wrote  about  230  A.  D.  Unless,  therefore,  Glaser  assumes  that  the 
Basilis  of  Pliny’s  text  is  a different  man  from  the  Basilis  of  his  index, 
his  argument  falls. 

Then,  too,  a man  of  Pliny’s  standing  would  have  been  apt  to 
refrain  from  mentioning  by  name  a writer  with  no  literary  reputation  in 
Roman  society.  His  index  would  omit  an  obscure  sea-captain,  just 
as  his  text  omits  him,  referring  merely  to  information  on  which  reli- 
ance can  be  placed.”  For  the  aristocracy  of  letters  was  very  real  in 
imperial  Rome,  and  the  writer  of  the  Periplus  did  not  “belong.” 
The  possibility  that  Pliny  may  have  used  his  account  does  not  imply 
fhe  use  of  his  name.  Altogether,  Glaser’s  argument  is  more  ingeni- 
ous than  probable. 

T hat  the  author  was  an  Egyptian  Greek,  and  a merchant  in  active 


16 


trade  who  personally  made  the  voyage  to  India,  is  evident  by  the  text 
itself;  that  he  lived  in  Berenice  rather  than  Alexandria  is  indicated  by 
the  absence  of  any  account  of  the  journey  up  the  Nile  and  across 
the  desert  from  Coptos,  which  Strabo  and  Pliny  describe  at  length. 
It  is  possible  that  he  made  the  voyage  from  Cape  Guardafui  to  Zan- 
zibar, but  the  text  is  so  vague  and  uncertain  that  he  seems  rather  to 
be  quoting  from  someone  else,  unless  indeed  much  of  this  part  of  the 
work  has  been  lost  in  copying.  The  coast  of  Arabia  east  of  the 
Frankincense  Country,  the  entire  Persian  Gulf  and  the  coasts  of  Persia 
and  Beluchistan  as  far  as  the  Indus  river,  seem  to  have  been  known 
to  him  only  by  hearsay.  They  were  subject  to  Parthia,  an  enemy  of 
Rome. 

That  he  was  not  a highly  educated  man  is  evident  from  his  fre- 
quent confusion  of  Greek  and  Latin  words  and  his  clumsy  and  some- 
times ungrammatical  constructions.  The  value  of  his  work  consists, 
not  m its  literary  merits,  but  in  its  trustworthy  account  of  the  trade  of 
the  Indian  Ocean  and  of  the  settlements  around  its  shores;  concern- 
ing which,  until  his  time,  we  possess  almost  nothing  of  an  intel- 
ligent and  comprehensive  nature. 


17 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  PERIPLUS 

Codex  Pal.  Gr^c.,  398.  A parchment  of  the  Tenth  Century,  in 
the  Library  of  the  University  of  Heidelberg.  It  was  taken  to 
Rome  during  the  Thirty  Years’  War,  and  to  Paris  under  Na- 
poleon; and  was  restored  to  Heidelberg  in  1816. 

This  manuscript  contains  twenty  different  titles,  of  which  the 
first  six  are  as  follows: 

I.  Argumentum  a Leone  Allatio.  (Allazi,  who  packed 
and  shipped  the  Heidelberg  Library  to  Rome.) 

II.  Fragmentum  de  Palude  Maeotide  et  de  Ponto 
Euxino. 

III.  Arrianus  de  ver.atione. 

IV.  Ejusdem  epistola  ad  Irajanum  qua  periplus  Ponti 
Euxini  continetur. 

V.  Ejusdem  Periplus  Maris  Rubri. 

VI.  Hannonis  periplus. 

Manuscript  19,391.  A parchment,  supposed  to  be  of  the  Four- 
teenth or  Fifteenth  Century,  in  the  British  Museum.  A portion 
of  it  is  supposed  to  have  come  from  the  monastery  of  Mount 
Athos.  Such  matter  as  it  contains  in  common  with  the  Heidel- 
berg manuscript  seems  to  have  been  copied  therefrc  a,  or  from  a 
common  original. 

In  this  the  Periplus  is  anonymous. 

Arriani  et  Hannonis  Periplus:  Plutarchus  de  fluminibus  et 
montibus:  Strabonis  epitome.  Fro  ben.  B a si  lea  Anno 
MDXXXII1.  Sigismundus  Gelenius  Anselmo  Ephorino  Medico  < S'. 

This  first  printed  text,  corrupt  and  full  of  errors  due  to  lack 
of  knowledge  of  the  subject,  served  nevertheless  for  three  cen- 
turies as  the  basis  of  later  editions,  because  of  the  disappearance 
of  the  Heidelberg  manuscript. 

Delle  Navigationi  et  Viagci  raccolta  da  Gio.  Batt.  Ramusio. 
In  J 'netia,  nella  Stamperia  de  Giunti , MDLXXXV1I1. 

Vol.  1,  pp.  281-283a  has  Discorso  di  Gio.  Battista  Ra- 
musio, sopra  la  navigatione  del  Mar  Rosso , fino  all ’ India  Orientale 
scritta  per  Arriano  and  p.  283a  begins  Navigatione  del  mar 
Rosso  fino  A lie  Indie  Orientali  scritta  per  Arriano  in  Lingua  Greca,& 
di  quella  poi  Tradotta  nella  Italiana. 

There  were  editions  of  Ramusio’ s Collection  at  Venice  in 
1550,  1554,  1563  and  1588. 


18 


ArRIANI  H1STORICI  ET  PHILOSOPHI  PoNTI  EUXINI&  MaRIS  ErYTHRCI 
Periplus,  ad  Adrianum  Ccsarem.  Nunc  primum  e Graeco 
sermone  in  Latinum  versus,  plurimusque  mendis  repurgatus.  Jo.  Gvi- 
lielmo  Stvckio  Tigvrino  avthor-e.  Geneva apvd  Evstathivm  Vignon , 
1577. 

This  text  is  based  on  that  of  Gelenius,  with  few  material 
emendations. 

Arriani  Ars  Tactica,  Acies  contra  Alanos,  Periplus  Ponti 
Euxini,  Periplus  Maris  Erythraei,  Liber  de  Venatione, 
etc.,  etc.  Gum  lnterpretibus  Latinis , J5  Notts.  Ex  Recensione  15 
Museo.  Nicolai  Blancardi , Amstelodami,  J anssonio-JVaesbergii,  1683. 

This  text  is  professedly  based  on  that  of  Stuck. 

Geographic  Veteris  Scriptores  Grcci  Minores.  Cum  Inter- 
pretatione  Latina,  Dissertatwmbus,  ac  A ' nnotationibus . Oxonice.  E 
Theatro  Sheldoniano,  MDCXCVII1.  ( Praestitit  Joannes  Hud- 
sonus.  Dissertationes  Henrici  Dodwelli.  ) 

This  contains  as  its  fifth  title,  Periplus  Maris  Erythrai  eidcm 
( Arriano)  vulgo  adscriptus.  Interprete  Jo.  Guilie/mo  Stuckio  Tigurino. 
The  text  is  based  on  Gelenius  and  Stuck. 

Sylloges  ton  en  Epitomei  tois  palai  Geographethenton  typois 
ekdothenton  philotimbi  dapanei  ton  ex  lbanninbn  philogenestatbn  adel- 
phon  Zosimi adon  charin  ton  tes  Hellenikes  paideias  ephiemenon 
Hellenbn.  En  Biennei  tes  Austrias  ek  tes  Schraimblikes  Eypographias, 

1807. 

It  contains,  pp.  295-333  Arrianou  Periplous  tes  Erythras 
Thalasses,  with  notes  translated  from  Hudson. 

Elavii  Arriani  Nicomediensis  Opera  Gr/ece  ad  optimas  cditiones 
collata.  Studio  Augusti  Christiani  Borheck.  Lemgovia , Meyer,  1809. 

This  contains,  pp.  91-121,  Arrianou  Periplous  tes  Erythras 
Thalasses.  The  text  is  from  Hudson. 

The  Periplus  of  the  Erythrean  Sea.  Part  the  first,  containing: 
An  Account  of  the  Navigation  of  the  Ancients , from  the  Sea  of  Suez 
to  the  Coast  of  Zanguebar.  With  Dissertations.  By  William  Vin- 
cent. London:  Cadell,  Jun.,  C5  Davies,  1800- 

The  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  Ancients  in  the  Indian 
Ocean.  By  William  Vincent , D.D.,  Dean  of  Westminster.  In 
two  volumes.  London:  Cadell  & Davies , 1807.  Yol.  I,  The 
Voyage  of  Nearchus.  Vol.  II,  The  Periplus  of  the  Erythrean  Sea. 
Part  the  first  containing,  An  Account  of  the  Navigation  of  the 
Ancients  from  the  Sea  of  Suez  to  the  coast  of'Zangucbar.  With 
Dissertations.  Part  the  second  containing',  An  Account  of  the 


19 


Navigation  of  the  Ancients  from  the  Gulph  of  Elana , in  the  Red 
Sea , to  the  Island  of  Ceylon. 

These  two  beautiful  volumes,  presenting  the  Greek  text  and 
English  translation  in  parallel  columns,  preceded  by  dissertations 
that  denote  exhaustive  geographical  and  historical  research,  are  still 
of  deep  interest  and  importance  to  the  student  of  the  Periplus. 

The  text  is  that  of  Blancard:  “His  edition  I was  obliged 
to  adopt,  because  I could  obtain  no  other  to  use  as  copy.  ” (Vol. 
II,  part  II,  preface,  p.  xi).  Vincent’s  textual  emendations  are 
generally  less  useful  than  his  geographical  and  commercial  notes, 
which  are  still,  in  large  part,  illuminating  and  trustworthy,  and 
were,  when  written,  the  first  intelligent  presentation  of  the  sub- 
ject. 

The  Voyage  of  Nearchus  and  the  Periplus  of  the  Erythrean 
Sea  (ascribed  to  Arrian),  translated  by  W.  Vincent,  Oxford, 
1809. 

Untersuchungen  ueber  einzelne  Gegenstaende  der  ali  en  Ge- 
schichte,  Geographie,  und  Chronologie.  G.  G.  Bredow , 
Altona,  Hammerich,  1802. 

This  includes  Vincent’s  Periplus,  translated  into  German, 

pp.  715-797. 

SAMMLUNG  KLEINER  SCHRIFTEN  AUS  DEM  GeBIETE  DER  MATHEMA- 

tischen  UND  alten  Geographie.  C.  G.  Reichard.  Guns, 
Reichard,  1 83 6. 

This  includes  Vincent’s  work,  pp.  374-425  and  438-496. 

Arriano  Opuscoli,  tradotti  da  vari.  Milano,  Sonzogno,  1826-7, 
S.  Blandi. 

Des  Pseudo-Arrians  Umschiffung  des  Erythraeischen  Mefres— 
die  Ersten  neun  Kapitel  vollstandig,  die  iibrigen  im  Auszuge.  Ueber- 
setzt  von  Streubel  in  J ahres-Bericht  iiber  die  Stralaucr  h'ohere  Burger- 
Schule  fur  das  Schuljahr  von  Michaelis  1860  bis  Michaelis  1861, 
womit — einladet  C.  Hartung.  Berlin,  Druck  von  Hickethier, 
1861. 

This  partial  translation  is  based  on  the  texts  of  Stuck,  Hud- 
son and  Borheck,  and  is  of  little  value. 

Arriani  Alexandrini  Periplus  Maris  Erythrjei.  'Recensuit  et 
brevi  annotatione  instruxit  B.  Fabricius.  Dresdce,  in  commissis  Gott = 
schalcki,  MDCCCXLIX. 


20 


Geographi  Graeci  Minores.  E codicibus  recognovit,  prolegomenis,  anno- 
tatione,  mdicibusque  instruxit,  tabulis  eeri  incisis  illustravit  Carolus 
Miillerus.  Parishs , Didot , MDCCCLV. 

Vol.  I,  pp.  xcv— cxx  has  Prolegomena  Anonymi  Periplus  Maris 
Erythrai , and  pp.  257—305  Anonymi ( A rriani,  ut  fertur)  Periplus 
Maris  Erythrai,  being  the  eighth  title  included  in  that  volume. 
Vol.  Ill  contains  four  maps,  xi— xiv,  especially  drawn  to  illustrate 
the  Periplus,  and  four  more,  vi— vm  and  xv,  drawn  for  other 
titles  but  presenting  details  that  further  elucidate  this  work. 

This  edition  is  a vast  improvement  over  all  its  predecessors, 
presenting  a text  which  is  still  the  standard,  admitting  of  modifi- 
cation only  in  minor  details.  The  Greek  text,  carefully  corrected 
from  the  Heidelberg  manuscript,  and  critically  revised  and  im- 
proved, is  presented  side  by  side  with  a Latin  translation.  The 
notes,  which  are  in  Latin,  reflect  almost  everything  of  importance 
to  the  subject  which  had  been  written  up  to  that  time. 

The  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  Erythraean  Sea.  By 
J.  W.  McCrindle,  M.A.,  LL.D.,  Calcutta,  1879.  Phis  volume 
contains  a translation  ( with  commentary ) of  the  Periplus  Eryth- 
raei  Maris,  by  an  unknown  writer  of  the  first  Christian  century, 
and  of  the  second  part  of  the  Indika  of  Arrian. 

The  translation  of  the  Periplus  was  also  printed  in  the  Indian 
Antiquary  of  Bombay,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  108-151. 

This  excellent  translation,  while  based  professedly  on  Mul- 
ler’s text,  is  often  reminiscent  rather  of  Vincent’s,  and  thus 
repeats  various  errors  which  Muller’s  notes  had  corrected. 

The  notes  are  valuable  for  the  original  material  they  contain 
concerning  Hindu  names,  places  and  commodities,  but  show 
lack  of  acquaintance  with  German  writers. 

Der  Periplus  des  Erythraeischen  Meeres  von  Einem  Unbekann- 
TEN.  Griechisch  und  deutsch  mit  kritischen  und  erkiarenden  Anmer- 
kungen  nebst  vollstandigem  IV'o rteruerzeich nisse  von  B.  Fabricius. 
Leipzig,  Verlag  von  Veit  & Comp.,  1883. 

A most  scholarly  presentation  of  Greek  text  and  German 
translation  on  opposite  pages,  with  clear  and  exhaustive  notes. 
The  Greek  text,  which  has  been  revised  with  extreme  care, 
contains  many  verbal  corrections  of  Muller’s  standard  text,  and 
leaves  little  to  be  desired.  The  historical  and  commercial  notes 
call  for  revision  where  they  omit  conclusions  previously  reached 
by  English  writers,  and  in  so  far  as  they  are  affected  by  later 
research. 


21 


The  present  translation  is  based  on  Muller’s  text,  adopting 
most  of  Fabricius’  verbal  emendations,  but  conforming  as  far  as 
possible  with  the  results  of  later  research.  Vincent’s  text  and 
translation  have  also  been  consulted  frequently.  References  in 
the  text  to  articles  of  commerce  have  been  carefully  collated  with 
Pliny  and  other  contemporary  writers,  as  well  as  with  modern 
authorities. 


22 


The  Voyage  around  the  Erythraean  Sea 

1.  Of  the  designated  ports  on  the  Erythraean  Sea, 
and  the  market-towns  around  it,  the  first  is  the  Egyp- 
tian port  of  Mussel  Harhor.  To  those  sailing  down 
from  that  place,  on  the  right  hand,  after  eighteen  hun- 
dred stadia,  there  is  Berenice.  The  harbors  of  both  are 
at  the  boundary  of  Egypt,  and  are  bays  opening  from 
the  Erythraean  Sea. 

2.  On  the  right-hand  coast  next  below  Berenice 
is  the  country  of  the  Berbers.  Along  the  shore  are  the 
Fish-Eaters,  living  in  scattered  caves  in  the  narrow  val- 
leys. Further  inland  are  the  Berbers,  and  beyond  them 
the  Wild-flesh-Eaters  and  Calf-Eaters,  each  tribe  gov- 
erned by  its  chief;  and  behind  them,  further  inland, 
in  the  country  toward  the  west,  there  lies  a city  called 
Me  roe. 

3.  Below  the  Calf- Eaters  there  ■ is  a little  market- 
town  on  the  shore  after  sailing  about  four  thousand 
stadia  from  Berenice,  called  Ptolemais  of  the  Hunts, 
from  which  the  hunters  started  for  the  interior  under 
the  dynasty  of  the  Ptolemies.  This  market-town  has 
the  true  land-tortoise  in  small  quantity;  it  is  white  and 
smaller  in  the  shells.  And  here  also  is  found  a little 
ivory,  like  that  of  Adulis.  But  the  place  has  no  harbor 
and  is  reached  only  by  small  boats. 

4.  Below  Ptolemais  of  the  Hunts,  at  a distance  of 
about  three  thousand  stadia,  there  is  Adulis,  a port  es- 
tablished by  law,  lying  at  the  inner  end  of  a bay  that 
runs  in  toward  the  south.  Before  the  harbor  lies  the 


23 


so-called  Mountain  Island,  about  two  hundred  stadia  sea- 
ward from  the  very  head  of  the  bay,  with  the  shores  of 
the  mainland  close  to  it  on  both  sides.  Ships  bound  for 
this  port  now  anchor  here  because  of  attacks  from  the 
land.  They  used  formerly  to  anchor  at  the  very  head 
of  the  bay,  by  an  island  called  Diodorus,  close  to  the 
shore,  which  could  be  reached  on  foot  from  the  land ; by 
which  means  the  barbarous  natives  attacked  the  island. 
Opposite  Mountain  Island,  on  the  mainland  twenty  stadia 
from  shore,  lies  Adulis,  a fair-sized  village,  from  which 
there  is  a three-days’  journey  to  Coloe,  an  inland  town 
and  the  first  market  for  ivory.  From  that  place  to  the 
city  of  the  people  called  Auxumites  there  is  a five  days’ 
journey  more;  to  that  place  all  the  ivory  is  brought 
from  the  country  beyond  the  Nile  through  the  district 
called  Cyeneum,  and  thence  to  Adulis.  Practically  the 
whole  number  of  elephants  and  rhinoceros  that  are 
killed  live  in  the  places  inland,  although  at  rare  inter- 
vals they  are  hunted  on  the  seacoast  even  near  Adulis. 
Before  the  harbor  of  that  market-town,  out  at  sea  on 
the  right  hand,  there  lie  a great  many  little  sandy  islands 
called  Alalaei,  yielding  tortoise-shell,  which  is  brought 
to  market  there  by  the  Fish-Eaters. 

5.  And  about  eight  hundred  stadia  beyond  there  is 
another  very  deep  bay,  with  a great  mound  of  sand 
piled  up  at  the  right  of  the  entrance;  at  the  bottom 
of  which  the  opsian  stone  is  found,  and  this  is  the  only 
place  where  it  is  produced.  These  places,  from  the 
Calf-Eaters  to  the  other  Berber  country,  are  governed 
by  Zoscales;  who  is  miserly  in  his  ways  and  always 
striving  for  more,  but  otherwise  upright,  and  acquainted 
with  Greek  literature. 


24 


6.  There  are  imported  into  these  places,  undressed 
cloth  made  in  Egypt  for  the  Berbers;  robes  from  Ar- 
sinoe;  cloaks  of  poor  quality  dyed  in  colors;  double- 
fringed  linen  mantles;  many  articles  of  flint  glass,  and 
others  of  murrhine,  made  in  Diospolis;  and  brass,  which 
is  used  for  ornament  and  in  cut  pieces  instead  of  coin; 
sheets  of  soft  copper,  used  for  cooking-utensils  and  cut 
up  for  bracelets  and  anklets  for  the  women ; iron,  which 
is  made  into  spears  used  against  the  elephants  and  other 
wild  beasts,  and  in  their  wars.  Besides  these,  small  axes 
are  imported,  and  adzes  and  swords;  copper  drinking- 
cups,  round  and  large;  a little  coin  for  those  coming 
to  the  market;  wine  of  Laodicea  and  Italy,  not  much; 
olive  oil,  not  much;  for  the  king,  gold  and  silver  plate 
made  after  the  fashion  of  the  country,  and  for  clothing, 
military  cloaks,  and  thin  coats  of  skin,  of  no  great  value. 
Likewise  from  the  district  of  Ariaca  across  this  sea,  there 
are  imported  Indian  iron,  and  steel,  and  Indian  cotton 
cloth ; the  broad  cloth  called  monache  and  that  called 
sagmatogene , and  girdles,  and  coats  of  skin  and  mal- 
low-colored cloth,  and  a few  muslins,  and  colored  lac. 
There  are  exported  from  these  places  ivory,  and  tortoise- 
shell and  rhinoceros-horn.  The  most  from  Egypt  is 
brought  to  this  market  from  the  month  of  January  to 
September,  that  is,  from  Tybi  to  Thoth ; but  season- 
ably they  put  to  sea  about  the  month  of  September. 

7.  From  this  place  the  Arabian  Gulf  trends  toward 
the  east  and  becomes  narrowest  just  before  the  Gulf  of 
Avalites.  After  about  four  thousand  stadia,  for  those 
sailing  eastward  along  the  same  coast,  there  are  other 
Berber  market-towns,  known  as  the  “far-side”  ports; 
Iving  at  intervals  one  after  the  other,  without  harbors 


25 


but  having  roadsteads  where  ships  can  anchor  and  lie 
in  good  weather.  The  first  is  called  Avalites;  to  this 
place  the  voyage  from  Arabia  to  the  far-side  coast 
is  the  shortest.  Here  there  is  a small  market- 
town  called  Avalites,  which  must  be  reached  by  boats 
and  rafts.  There  are  imported  into  this  place,  flint  glass, 
assorted;  juice  of  sour  grapes  from  Diospolis;  dressed 
cloth,  assorted,  made  for  the  Berbers;  wheat,  wine,  and 
a little  tin.  There  are  exported  from  the  same  place, 
and  sometimes  by  the  Berbers  themselves  crossing  on 
rafts  to  Ocelis  and  Muza  on  the  opposite  shore,  spices,  a 
little  ivory,  tortoise-shell,  and  a very  little  myrrh,  but 
better  than  the  rest.  And  the  Berbers  who  live  in  the 
place  are  very  unruly. 

8.  After  Avalites  there  is  another  market-town, 
better  than  this,  called  Malao,  distant  a sail  of  about 
eight  hundred  stadia.  The  anchorage  is  an  open  road- 
stead, sheltered  by  a spit  running  out  from  the  east. 
Here  the  natives  are  more  peaceable.  There  are  im- 
ported into  this  place  the  things  already  mentioned,  and 
many  tunics,  cloaks  from  Arsinoe,  dressed  and  dyed; 
drinking-cups,  sheets  of  soft  copper  in  small  quantity, 
iron,  and  gold  and  silver  coin,  not  much.  There  are 
exported  from  these  places  myrrh,  a little  frankincense, 
(that known  as  far-side),  the  harder  cinnamon,  duaca, 
Indian  copal  and  macir , which  are  imported  into  Arabia; 
and  slaves,  but  rarely. 

9.  Two  days’  sail,  or  three,  beyond  Malao  is  the 
market-town  of  Mundus,  where  the  ships  lie  at  anchor 
more  safely  behind  a projecting  island  close  to  the  shore. 
There  are  imported  into  this  place  the  things  previously 
set  forth,  and  from  it  likewise  are  exported  the  mer- 


26 


chandise  already  stated,  and  the  incense  called  mocrotu. 
And  the  traders  living  here  are  more  quarrelsome. 

10.  Beyond  Mundus,  sailing  toward  the  east,  after 
another  two  days’  sail,  or  three,  you  reach  Mosyllum, 
on  a beach,  with  a bad  anchorage.  There  are  imported 
here  the  same  things  already  mentioned,  also  silver 
plate,  a very  little  iron,  and  glass.  There  are  shipped 
from  the  place  a great  quantity  of  cinnamon,  (so  that 
this  market-town  requires  ships  of  larger  size),  and 
fragrant  gums,  spices,  a little  tortoise  shell,  and  mocrotu , 
(poorer  than  that  of  Mundus),  frankincense,  (the 
far-side),  ivory  and  myrrh  in  small  quantities. 

11.  Sailing  along  the  coast  beyond  Mosyllum,  after 
a two  days’  course  you  come  to  the  so-called  Little  Nile 
River,  and  a fine  spring,  and  a small  laurel-grove,  and 
Cape  Elephant.  Then  the  shore  recedes  into  a bay, 
and  has  a river,  called  Elephant,  and  a large  laurel- 
grove  called  Acannae;  where  alone  is  produced  the  far- 
side  frankincense,  in  great  quantity  and  of  the  best  grade. 

12.  Beyond  this  place,  the  coast  trending  toward 
the  south,  there  is  the  Market  and  Cape  of  Spices,  an 
abrupt  promontory,  at  the  very  end  of  the  Berber  coast 
toward  the  east.  The  anchorage  is  dangerous  at  times 
from  the  ground-swell,  because  the  place  is  exposed  to 
the  north.  A sign  of  an  approaching  storm  which  is 
peculiar  to  the  place,  is  that  the  deep  water  becomes 
more  turbid  and  changes  its  color.  When  this  happens 
they  all  run  to  a large  promontory  called  Tabae,  which 
offers  safe  shelter.  There  are  imported  into  this  market- 
town  the  things  already  mentioned;  and  there  are  pro- 
duced in  it  cinnamon  (and  its  different  varieties,  giziry 
asypha , arebo , magla,  and  moto ) and  frankincense. 


27 


13.  Beyond  Tabae,  after  four  hundred  stadia,  there 
is  the  village  of  Pano.  And  then,  after  sailing  four 
hundred  stadia  along  a promontory,  toward  which  place 
the  current  also  draws  you,  there  is  another  market- 
town  called  Opone,  into  which  the  same  things  are  im- 
ported as  those  already  mentioned,  and  in  it  the  greatest 
quantity  of  cinnamon  is  produced,  (the  arebo  and  moto ), 
and  slaves  of  the  better  sort,  which  are  brought  to  Egypt 
in  increasing  numbers;  and  a great  quantity  of  tortoise- 
shell, better  than  that  found  elsewhere. 

14.  The  voyage  to  all  these  far-side  market-towns 
is  made  from  Egypt  about  the  month  of  July,  that  is 
Epiphi.  And  ships  are  also  customarily  fitted  out  from 
the  places  across  this  sea,  from  Ariaca  and  Barygaza, 
bringing  to  these  far-side  market-towns  the  products  of 
their  own  places;  wheat,  rice,  clarified  butter,  sesame 
oil,  cotton  cloth,  (the  monache  and  the  sagmatogene) , 
and  girdles,  and  honey  from  the  reed  called  sacchari. 
Some  make  the  voyage  especially  to  these  market-towns, 
and  others  exchange  their  cargoes  while  sailing  along 
the  coast.  This  country  is  not  subject  to  a King,  but 
each  market-town  is  ruled  by  its  separate  chief. 

15.  Beyond  Opone,  the  shore  trending  more  to- 
ward the  south,  first  there  are  the  small  and  great  bluffs 
of  Azania;  this  coast  is  destitute  of  harbors,  but  there 
are  places  where  ships  can  lie  at  anchor,  the  shore  being 
abrupt;  and  this  course  isofsixdays,  the  direction  being 
south-west.  Then  come  the  small  and  great  beach  for 
another  six  days’  course  and  after  that  in  order,  the 
Courses  of  Azania,  the  first  being  called  Sarapion  and 
the  next  Nicon;  and  after  that  several  rivers  and  other 
anchorages,  one  after  the  other,  separately  a rest  and  a 


28 


run  for  each  day,  seven  in  all,  until  the  Pyralaae  islands 
and  what  is  called  the  channel;  beyond  which,  a little 
to  the  south  of  south-west,  after  two  courses  of  a day 
and  night  along  the  Ausanitic  coast,  is  the  island 
Menuthias,  about  three  hundred  stadia  from  the  main- 
land, low  and  and  wooded,  in  which  there  are  rivers 
and  many  kinds  of  birds  and  the  mountain-tortoise. 
There  are  no  wild  beasts  except  the  crocodiles ; but  there 
they  do  not  attack  men.  In  this  place  there  are  sewed 
boats,  and  canoes  hollowed  from  single  logs,  which 
they  use  for  fishing  and  catching  tortoise.  In  this 
island  they  also  catch  them  in  a peculiar  way,  in  wicker 
baskets,  which  they  fasten  across  the  channel-opening 
between  the  breakers. 

16.  Two  days’  sail  beyond,  there  lies  the  very 
last  market-town  of  the  continent  of  Azania,  which  is 
called  Rhapta;  which  has  its  name  from  the  sewed 
boats  ( rhapton  ploiarion ) already  mentioned;  in  which 
there  is  ivory  in  great  quantity,  and  tortoise-shell. 
Along  this  coast  live  men  of  piratical  habits,  very  great 
in  stature,  and  under  separate  chiefs  for  each  place. 
The  Mapharitic  chief  governs  it  under  some  ancient 
right  that  subjects  it  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  state  that 
is  become  first  in  Arabia.  And  the  people  of  Muza 
now  hold  it  under  his  authority,  and  send  thither  many 
large  ships;  using  Arab  captains  and  agents,  who  are 
familiar  with  the  natives  and  intermarry  with  them,  and 
who  know  the  whole  coast  and  understand  the  language. 

17.  There  are  imported  into  these  markets  the  lances 
made  at  Muza  especially  for  this  trade,  and  hatchets 
and  daggers  and  awls,  and  various  kinds  of  glass;  and 
at  some  places  a little  wine,  and  wheat,  not  for  trade,  but 


29 


to  serve  for  getting  the  good-will  of  the  savages.  There 
are  exported  from  these  places  a great  quantity  of  ivory, 
but  inferior  to  that  of  Adulis,  and  rhinoceros-horn 
and  tortoise-shell  (which  is  in  best  demand  after  that 
from  India),  and  a little  palm-oil. 

18.  And  these  markets  of  Azania  are  the  very  last 
of  the  continent  that  stretches  down  on  the  right  hand 
from  Berenice;  for  beyond  these  places  the  unexplored 
ocean  curves  around  toward  the  west,  and  running  along 
by  the  regions  to  the  south  of  Aethiopia  and  Libya  and 
Africa,  it  mingles  with  the  western  sea. 

19.  Now  to  the  left  of  Berenice,  sailing  for  two 
or  three  days  from  Mussel  Harbor  eastward  across  the 
adjacent  gulf,  there  is  another  harbor  and  fortified  place, 
which  is  called  White  Village,  from  which  there  is  a 
road  to  Petra,  which  is  subject  to  Malichas,  King  of 
the  Nabataeans.  It  holds  the  position  of  a market-town 
for  the  small  vessels  sent  there  from  Arabia;  and  so  a 
centurion  is  stationed  there  as  a collector  of  one-fourth 
of  the  merchandise  imported,  with  an  armed  force,  as 
a garrison. 

20.  Directly  below  this  place  is  the  adjoining 
country  of  Arabia,  in  its  length  bordering  a great  dis- 
tance on  the  Erythraean  Sea.  Different  tribes  inhabit 
the  country,  differing  in  their  speech,  some  partially, 
and  some  altogether.  The  land  next  the  sea  is  similarly 
dotted  here  and  there  with  caves  of  the  Fish-Eaters,  but 
the  country  inland  is  peopled  by  rascally  men  speaking 
two  languages,  who  live  in  villages  and  nomadic  camps, 
by  whom  those  sailing  off  the  middle  course  are  plun- 
dered, and  those  surviving  shipwrecks  are  taken  for 
slaves.  And  so  they  too  are  continually  taken  prisoners 


30 


by  the  chiefs  and  kings  of  Arabia;  and  they  are  called 
Carnaites.  Navigation  is  dangerous  along  this  whole 
coast  of  Arabia,  which  is  without  harbors,  with  bad  an- 
chorages, foul,  inaccessible  because  of  breakers  and 
rocks,  and  terrible  in  every  way.  Therefore  we  hold 
our  course  down  the  middle  of  the  gulf  and  pass  on  as 
fast  as  possible  by  the  country  of  Arabia  until  we  come 
to  the  Burnt  Island;  directly  below  which  there  are 
regions  of  peaceful  people,  nomadic,  pasturers  of  cattle, 
sheep  and  camels. 

21.  Beyond  these  places,  in  a bay  at  the  foot  of  the 
left  side  of  this  gulf,  there  is  a place  by  the  shore  called 
Muza,  a market-town  established  by  law,  distant  alto- 
gether from  Berenice  for  those  sailing  southward,  about 
twelve  thousand  stadia.  And  the  whole  place  is  crowded 
with  Arab  shipowners  and  seafaring  men,  and  is  busy 
with  the  affairs  of  commerce ; for  they  carry  on  a trade 
with  the  far-side  coast  and  with  Barvgaza,  sending  their 
own  ships  there. 

22.  Three  days  inland  from  this  port  there  is 
a city  called  Saua,  in  the  midst  of  the  region  called 
Mapharitis;  and  there  is  a vassal-chief  named  Cholse- 
bus  who  lives  in  that  city. 

23.  And  after  nine  days  more  there  is  Saphar,  the 
metropolis,  in  which  lives  Charibael,  lawful  king  of 
two  tribes,  the  Homerites  and  those  living  next  to 
them,  called  the  Sabaites;  through  continual  embassies 
and  gifts,  he  is  a friend  of  the  Emperors. 

24.  The  market-town  of  Muza  is  without  a har- 
bor, but  has  a good  roadstead  and  anchorage  because 
of  the  sandy  bottom  thereabouts,  where  the  anchors 
hold  safely.  The  merchandise  imported  there  consists 


31 


of  purple  cloths,  both  fine  and  coarse;  clothing  in  the 
Arabian  style,  with  sleeves;  plain,  ordinary,  embroi- 
dered, or  interwoven  with  gold;  saffron,  sweet  rush, 
muslins,  cloaks,  blankets  (not  many),  some  plain  and 
others  made  in  the  local  fashion;  sashes  of  different 
colors,  fragrant  ointments  in  moderate  quantity,  wine 
and  wheat,  not  much.  For  the  country  produces  grain 
in  moderate  amount,  and  a great  deal  of  wine.  And 
to  the  King  and  the  Chief  are  given  horses  and  sump- 
ter-mules,  vessels  of  gold  and  polished  silver,  finely 
woven  clothing  and  copper  vessels.  There  are  exported 
from  the  same  place  the  things  produced  in  the  coun- 
try: selected  myrrh,  and  the  Gebanite-Minaean  stacte , 
alabaster  and  all  the  things  already  mentioned  from 
Avalites  and  the  far-side  coast.  The  voyage  to  this 
place  is  made  best  about  the  month  of  September,  that 
is  Thoth  ; but  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  it  even  earlier. 

25.  After  sailing  beyond  this  place  about  three 
hundred  stadia,  the  coast  of  Arabia  and  the  Berber 
country  about  the  Avalitic  gulf  now  coming  close  to- 
gether, there  is  a channel,  not  long  in  extent,  which 
forces  the  sea  together  and  shuts  it  into  a narrow  strait, 
the  passage  through  which,  sixty  stadia  in  length,  the 
island  Diodorus  divides.  Therefore  the  course  through 
it  is  beset  with  rushing  currents  and  with  strong  winds 
blowing  down  from  the  adjacent  ridge  of  mountains. 
Directly  on  this  strait  by  the  shore  there  is  a village  of 
Arabs,  subject  to  the  same  chief,  called  Ocelis;  which 
is  not  so  much  a market-town  as  it  is  an  anchorage  and 
watering-place  and  the  first  landing  for  those  sailing 
into  the  gulf. 

26.  Beyond  Ocelis,  the  sea  widening  again  toward 


32 


the  east  and  soon  giving  a view  of  the  open  ocean,  after 
about  twelve  hundred  stadia  there  is  Eudasmon  Arabia, 
a village  by  the  shore,  also  of  the  Kingdom  of  Chari- 
bael,  and  having  convenient  anchorages,  and  watering- 
places,  sweeter  and  better  than  those  at  Ocelis;  it  lies  at 
the  entrance  of  a bay,  and  the  land  recedes  from  it. 
It  was  called  Eudsmon,  because  in  the  early  days  of 
the  city  when  the  voyage  was  not  yet  made  from  India 
to  Egypt,  and  when  they  did  not  dare  to  sail  from 
Egypt  to  the  ports  across  this  ocean,  but  all  came  to- 
gether at  this  place,  it  received  the  cargoes  from  both 
countries,  just  as  Alexandria  now  receives  the  things 
brought  both  from  abroad  and  from  Egypt.  But  not 
long  before  our  own  time  Charibae'  destroyed  the 
place. 

27.  After  Eudsemon  Arabia  there  is  a continuous 
length  of  coast,  and  a bay  extending  two  thousand  stadia 
or  more,  along  which  there  are  Nomads  and  Fish-Eaters 
living  in  villages;  just  beyond  the  cape  projecting  from 
this  bay  there  is  another  market-town  by  the  shore, 
Cana,  of  the  Kingdom  of  Eleazus,  the  Frankincense 
Country;  and  facing  it  there  are  two  desert  islands, 
one  called  Island  of  Birds,  the  other  Dome  Island,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  stadia  from  Cana.  Inland  from 
this  place  lies  the  metropolis  Sabbatha,  in  which  the 
King  lives.  All  the  frankincense  produced  in  the 
country  is  brought  by  camels  to  that  place  to  be  stored, 
and  to  Cana  on  rafts  held  up  by  inflated  skins  after  the 
manner  of  the  country,  and  in  boats.  And  this  place 
has  a trade  also  with  the  far-side  ports,  with  Barygaza 
and  Scythia  and  Ommana  and  the  neighboring  coast 
of  Persia. 


33 


28.  There  are  imported  into  this  place  from  Egypt 
a little  wheat  and  wine,  as  at  Muza;  clothing  in  the 
Arabian  style,  plain  and  common  and  most  of  it  spuri- 
ous; and  copper  and  tin  and  coral  and  storax  and  other 
things  such  as  go  to  Muza;  and  for  the  King  usually 
wrought  gold  and  silver  plate,  also  horses,  images,  and 
thin  clothing  of  fine  quality.  And  there  are  exported 
from  this  place,  native  produce,  frankincense  and  aloes, 
and  the  rest  of  the  things  that  enter  into  the  trade  of 
the  other  ports.  The  voyage  to  this  place  is  best  made 
at  the  same  time  as  that  to  Muza,  or  rather  earlier. 

29.  Beyond  Cana,  the  land  receding  greatly,  there 
follows  a very  deep  bay  stretching  a great  way  across, 
which  is  called  Sachalites;  and  the  Frankincense  Coun- 
try, mountainous  and  forbidding,  wrapped  in  thick 
clouds  and  fog,  and  yielding  frankincense  from  the 
trees.  These  incense-bearing  trees  are  not  of  great 
height  or  thickness;  they  bear  the  frankincense  stick- 
ing in  drops  on  the  bark,  just  as  the  trees  among  us  in 
Egypt  weep  their  gum.  The  frankincense  is  gathered 
by  the  King’s  slaves  and  those  who  are  sent  to  this  ser- 
vice for  punishment.  For  these  places  are  very  un- 
healthy, and  pestilential  even  to  those  sailing  along  the 
coast;  but  almost  always  fatal  to  those  working  there, 
who  also  perish  often  from  want  of  food. 

30.  On  this  bay  there  is  a very  great  promontory 
facing  the  east,  called  Syagrus;  on  which  is  a fort  for 
the  defence  of  the  country,  and  a harbor  and  storehouse 
for  the  frankincense  that  is  collected ; and  opposite  this 
cape,  well  out  at  sea,  there  is  an  island,  lying  between 
it  and  the  Cape  of  Spices  opposite,  but  nearer  Syagrus: 
it  is  called  Dioscorida,  and  is  very  large  but  desert  and 


34 


marshy,  having  rivers  in  it  and  crocodiles  and  many 
snakes  and  great  lizards,  of  which  the  flesh  is  eaten  and 
the  fat  melted  and  used  instead  of  olive  oil.  The  island 
yields  no  fruit,  neither  vine  nor  grain.  The  inhabitants 
are  few  and  they  live  on  the  coast  toward  the  north, 
which  from  this  side  faces  the  continent.  They  are 
foreigners,  a mixture  of  Arabs  and  Indians  and  Greeks, 
who  have  emigrated  to  carry  on  trade  there.  The  island 
produces  the  true  sea-tortoise,  and  the  land-tortoise,  and 
the  white  tortoise  which  is  very  numerous  and  prefer- 
red for  its  large  shells;  and  the  mountain-tortoise,  which 
is  largest  of  all  and  has  the  thickest  shell;  of  which  the 
worthless  specimens  cannot  be  cut  apart  on  the  under 
side,  because  they  are  even  too  hard ; but  those  of  value 
are  cut  apart  and  the  shells  made  whole  into  caskets 
and  small  plates  and  cake-dishes  and  that  sort  of  ware. 
There  is  also  produced  in  this  island  cinnabar,  that 
called  Indian,  which  is  collected  in  drops  from  the 
trees. 

31.  It  happens  that  just  as  Azania  is  subject  to 
Charibael  and  the  Chief  of  Mapharitis,  this  island  is 
subject  to  the  King  of  the  Frankincense  Country. 
Trade  is  also  carried  on  there  by  some  people  from 
Muza  and  by  those  who  chance  to  call  there  on  the 
voyage  from  Damirica  and  Barygaza;  they  bring  in 
rice  and  wheat  and  Indian  cloth,  and  a few  female 
slaves;  and  they  take  for  their  exchange  cargoes,  a 
great  quantity  of  tortoise-shell.  Now  the  island  is 
farmed  out  under  the  Kings  and  is  garrisoned. 

32.  Immediately  beyond  Syagrus  the  bay  of  Omana 
cuts  deep  into  the  coast-line,  the  width  of  it  being  six 
hundred  stadia;  and  beyond  this  there  are  mountains, 


35 


high  and  rocky  and  steep,  inhabited  by  cave-dwellers 
for  five  hundred  stadia  more;  and  beyond  this  is  a port, 
established  for  receiving  the  Sachalitic  frankincense; 
the  harbor  is  called  Moscha,  and  ships  from  Cana  call 
there  regularly;  and  ships  returning  from  Damirica 
and  Barygaza,  if  the  season  is  late,  winter  there,  and 
trade  with  the  King’s  officers,  exchanging  their  cloth 
and  wheat  and  sesame  oil  for  frankincense,  which  lies 
in  heaps  all  over  the  Sachalitic  country,  open  and  un- 
guarded, as  if  the  place  were  under  the  protection  of 
the  gods;  for  neither  openly  nor  by  stealth  can  it  be 
loaded  on  board  ship  without  the  King’s  permission; 
if  a single  grain  were  loaded  without  this,  the  ship  could 
not  clear  from  the  harbor. 

33.  Beyond  the  harbor  of  Moscha  for  about  fifteen 
hundred  stadia  as  far  as  Asich,  a mountain  range  runs 
along  the  shore;  at  the  end  of  which,  in  a row,  lie 
seven  islands,  called  Zenobian.  Beyond  these  there  is 
a barbarous  region  which  is  no  longer  of  the  same 
Kingdom,  but  now  belongs  to  Persia.  Sailing  along 
this  coast  well  out  at  sea  for  two  thousand  stadia  from 
the  Zenobian  Islands,  there  meets  you  an  island  called 
Sarapis,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  stadia  from  the 
mainland.  It  is  about  two  hundred  stadia  wide  and  six 
hundred  long,  inhabited  by  three  settlements  of  Fish- 
Eaters,  a villainous  lot,  who  use  the  Arabian  language 
and  wear  girdles  of  palm-leaves.  The  island  produces 
considerable  tortoise-shell  of  fine  quality,  and  small  sail- 
boats and  cargo-ships  are  sent  there  regularly  from 
Cana. 

34.  Sailing  along  the  coast,  which  trends  north- 
ward toward  the  entrance  of  the  Persian  Sea,  there  are 


36 


many  islands  known  as  the  Calaei,  after  about  two 
thousand  stadia,  extending  along  the  shore.  The  in- 
habitants are  a treacherous  lot,  very  little  civilized. 

35.  At  the  upper  end  of  these  Calaei  islands  is  a 
range  of  mountains  called  Calon,  and  there  follows  not 
far  beyond,  the  mouth  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  there 
is  much  diving  for  the  pearl-mussel.  To  the  left  of 
the  straits  are  great  mountains  called  Asabon,  and  to 
the  right  there  rises  in  full  view  another  round  and 
high  mountain  called  Semiramis;  between  them  the 
passage  across  the  strait  is  about  six  hundred  stadia;  be- 
yond which  that  very  great  and  broad  sea,  the  Persian 
Gulf,  reaches  far  into  the  interior.  At  the  upper  end 
of  this  Gulf  there  is  a market-town  designated  by  law, 
called  Apologus,  situated  near  Charax  Spasini  and  the 
River  Euphrates. 

36.  Sailing  through  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf,  after 
a six-days’  course  there  is  another  market-town  of  Persia 
called  Ommana.  To  both  of  these  market-towns  large 
vessels  are  regularly  sent  from  Barygaza,  loaded  with  cop- 
per and  sandalwood  and  timbers  of  teakwood  and  logs 
of  blackwood  and  ebony.  To  Ommana  frankincense  is 
also  brought  from  Cana,  and  from  Ommana  to  Arabia 
boats  sewed  together  after  the  fashion  of  the  place; 
these  are  known  as  madarata.  From  each  of  these 
market-towns,  there  are  exported  to  Barygaza  and  also 
to  Arabia,  many  pearls,  but  inferior  to  those  of  India; 
purple,  clothing  after  the  fashion  of  the  place,  wine,  a 
great  quantity  of  dates,  gold  and  slaves. 

37.  Beyond  the  Ommanitic  region  there  is  a coun- 
try also  of  the  Parsidae,  of  another  Kingdom,  and  the 
bay  of  Gedrosia,  from  the  middle  of  which  a cape  juts 


37 


out  into  the  bay.  Here  there  is  a river  affording  an 
entrance  for  ships,  with  a little  market-town  at  the 
mouth,  called  Oraea;  and  back  from  the  place  an  in- 
land city,  distant  a seven  days’  journey  from  the  sea,  in 
which  also  is  the  King’s  court;  it  is  called (prob- 

ably Rhambacia).  This  country  yields  much  wheat, 
wine,  rice  and  dates;  but  along  the  coast  there  is 
nothing  but  bdellium. 

38.  Beyond  this  region,  the  continent  making  a 
wide  curve  from  the  east  across  the  depths  of  the  hays, 
there  follows  the  coast  district  of  Scythia,  which  lies 
above  toward  the  north;  the  whole  marshy;  from 
which  flows  down  the  river  Sinthus,  the  greatest  of  all 
the  rivers  that  flow  into  the  Erythraean  Sea,  bringing 
down  an  enormous  volume  of  water;  so  that  a long 
way  out  at  sea,  before  reaching  this  country,  the  water 
of  the  ocean  is  fresh  from  it.  Now  as  a sign  of  ap- 
proach to  this  country  to  those  coming  from  the  sea, 
there  are  serpents  coming  forth  from  the  depths  to  meet 
you;  and  a sign  of  the  places  just  mentioned  and  in 
Persia,  are  those  called  grace.  This  river  has  seven 
mouths,  very  shallow  and  marshy,  so  that  they  are  not 
navigable,  except  the  one  in  the  middle;  at  which  by 
the  shore,  is  the  market-town,  Barbaricum.  Before  it 
there  lies  a small  island,  and  inland  behind  it  is  the  me- 
tropolis of  Scythia,  Minnagara;  it  is  subject  to  Parthian 
princes  who  are  constantly  driving  each  other  out. 

39.  The  ships  lie  at  anchor  at  Barbaricum,  but  all 
their  eargoes  are  carried  up  to  the  metropolis  by  the 
river,  to  the  King.  There  are  imported  into  this  mar- 
ket a great  deal  of  thin  clothing,  and  a little  spurious; 
figured  linens,  topaz,  coral,  storax,  frankincense,  vessels 


38 


of  glass,  silver  and  gold  plate,  and  a little  wine.  On 
the  other  hand  there  are  exported  cqstus,  bdellium, 
lycium,  nard,  turquoise,  lapis  lazuli,  Seric  skins,  cotton 
cloth,  silk  yarn,  and  indigo.  And  sailors  set  out  thither 
with  the  Indian  Etesian  winds,  about  the  month  of 
July,  that  is  Epiphi:  it  is  more  dangerous  then,  hut 
through  these  winds  the  voyage  is  more  direct,  and 
sooner  completed. 

40.  Beyond  the  river  Sinthus  there  is  another  gulf, 
not  navigable,  running  in  toward  the  north;  it  is  called 
Eirinon;  its  parts  are  called  separately  the  small  gulf 
and  the  great;  in  both  parts  the  water  is  shallow,  with 
shifting  sandbanks  occurring  continually  and  a great 
way  from  shore;  so  that  very  often  when  the  shore  is 
not  even  in  sight,  ships  run  aground,  and  if  they  at- 
tempt to  hold  their  course  they  are  wrecked.  A prom- 
ontory stands  out  from  this  gulf,  curving  around  from 
Eirinon  toward  the  East,  then  South,  then  West,  and 
enclosing  the  gulf  called  Baraca,  which  contains  seven 
islands.  Those  who  come  to  the  entrance  of  this  bay 
escape  it  by  putting  about  a little  and  standing  further 
out  to  sea;  hut  those  who  are  drawn  inside  into  the 
gulf  of  Baraca  are  lost;  for  the  waves  are  high  and  very 
violent,  and  the  sea  is  tumultuous  and  foul,  and  has 
eddies  and  rushing  whirlpools.  The  bottom  is  in  some 
places  abrupt,  and  in  others  rocky  and  sharp,  so  that 
the  anchors  lying  there  are  parted,  some  being  quickly 
cut  off,  and  others  chafing  on  the  bottom.  As  a sign 
of  these  places  to  those  approaching  from  the  sea  there 
are  serpents,  very  large  and  black;  for  at  the  other 
places  on  this  coast  and  around  Barygaza,  they  are 
smaller,  and  in  color  bright  green,  running  into  gold. 


39 


41.  Beyond  the  gulf  of  Baraca  is  that  of  Barygaza 
and  the  coast  of  the  country  of  Ariaca,  which  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Kingdom  of  Nambanus  and  of  all  India. 
That  part  of  it  lying  inland  and  adjoining  Scythia  is 
called  Abiria,  but  the  coast  is  called  Syrastrene.  It  is 
a fertile  country,  yielding  wheat  and  rice  and  sesame 
oil  and  clarified  butter,  cotton  and  the  Indian  cloths 
made  therefrom,  of  the  coarser  sorts.  Very  many 
cattle  are  pastured  there,  and  the  men  are  of  great  stat- 
ure and  black  in  color.  The  metropolis  of  this  country 
is  Minnagara,  from  which  much  cotton  cloth  is  brought 
down  to  Barygaza.  In  these  places  there  remain  even 
to  the  present  time  signs  of  the  expedition  of  Alexander, 
such  as  ancient  shrines,  walls  of  forts  and  great  wells. 
The  sailing  course  along  this  coast,  from  Barbaricum 
to  the  promontory  called  Papica,  opposite  Barygaza, 
and  before  Astacampra,  is  of  three  thousand  stadia. 

42.  Beyond  this  there  is  another  gulf  exposed  to 
the  sea-waves,  running  up  toward  the  north,  at  the 
mouth  of  which  there  is  an  island  called  Baeones;  at 
its  innermost  part  there  is  a great  river  called  Mais. 
Those  sailing  to  Barygaza  pass  across  this  gulf,  which 
is  three  hundred  stadia  in  width,  leaving  behind  to  their 
left  the  island  just  visible  from  their  tops  toward  the 
east,  straight  to  the  very  mouth  of  the  river  of  Barygaza; 
and  this  river  is  called  Nammadus. 

43.  This  gulf  is  very  narrow  to  Barygaza  and  very 
hard  to  navigate  for  those  coming  from  the  ocean;  this 
is  the  case  with  both  the  right  and  left  passages,  but 
there  is  a better  passage  through  the  left.  For  on  the 
right  at  the  very  mouth  of  the  gulf  there  lies  a shoal, 
long  and  narrow,  and  full  of  rocks,  called  Herone, 


40 


facing  the  village  of  Cammoni;  and  opposite  this  on 
the  left  projects  the  promontory  that  lies  before  Asta- 
campra,  which  is  called  Papica,  and  is  a had  anchorage 
because  of  the  strong  current  setting  in  around  it  and 
because  the  anchors  are  cut  off,  the  bottom  being  rough 
and  rocky.  And  even  if  the  entrance  to  the  gulf  is 
made  safely,  the  mouth  of  the  river  at  Barygaza  is  found 
with  difficulty,  because  the  shore  is  very  low  and  cannot 
he  made  out  until  you  are  close  upon  it.  And  when 
you  have  found  it  the  passage  is  difficult  because  of  the 
shoals  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

44.  Because  of  this,  native  fishermen  in  the  King’s 
service,  stationed  at  the  very  entrance  in  well-manned 
large  boats  called  trappaga  and  cotymba,  go  up  the 
coast  as  far  as  Syrastrene,  from  which  they  pilot  vessels 
to  Barygaza.  And  they  steer  them  straight  from  the 
mouth  of  the  hay  between  the  shoals  with  their  crews; 
and  they  tow  them  to  fixed  stations,  going  up  with  the 
beginning  of  the  flood,  and  lying  through  the  ebb  at 
anchorages  and  in  basins.  These  basins  are  deeper 
places  in  the  river  as  far  as  Barygaza;  which  lies 
by  the  river,  about  three  hundred  stadia  up  from  the 
mouth. 

45.  Now  the  whole  country  of  India  has  very  many 
rivers,  and  very  great  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides;  in- 
creasing at  the  new  moon,  and  at  the  full  moon  for 
three  days,  and  falling  off  during  the  intervening  days 
of  the  moon.  But  about  Barygaza  it  is  much  greater, 
so  that  the  bottom  is  suddenly  seen,  and  now  parts  of 
the  dry  land  are  sea,  and  now  it  is  dry  where  ships  were 
sailing  just  before;  and  the  rivers,  under  the  inrush 
of  the  flood  tide,  when  the  whole  force  of  the  sea  is 


directed  against  them,  are  driven  upwards  more  strongly 
against  their  natural  current,  for  many  stadia. 

46.  For  this  reason  entrance  and  departure  of  ves- 
sels is  very  dangerous  to  those  who  are  inexperienced  or 
who  come  to  this  market-town  for  the  first  time.  For 
the  rush  of  waters  at  the  incoming  tide  is  irresistible, 
and  the  anchors  cannot  hold  against  it;  so  that  large 
ships  are  caught  up  hy  the  force  of  it,  turned  broadside 
on  through  the  speed  of  the  current,  and  so  driven  on 
the  shoals  and  wrecked;  and  smaller  boats  are  over- 
turned; and  those  that  have  been  turned  aside  among 
the  channels  by  the  receding  waters  at  the  ebb,  are  left 
on  their  sides,  and  if  not  held  on  an  even  keel  by  props, 
the  flood  tide  comes  upon  them  suddenly  and  under 
the  first  head  of  the  current  they  are  filled  with  water. 
For  there  is  so  great  force  in  the  rush  of  the  sea  at  the 
new  moon,  especially  during  the  flood  tide  at  night, 
that  if  you  begin  the  entrance  at  the  moment  when  the 
waters  are  still,  on  the  instant  there  is  borne  to  you  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  a noise  like  the  cries  of  an  army 
heard  from  afar;  and  very  soon  the  sea  itself  comes  rush- 
ing in  over  the  shoals  with  a hoarse  roar. 

47.  The  country  inland  from  Barygaza  is  inhabited 
by  numerous  tribes,  such  as  the  Arattii,  the  Arachosii, 
the  Gandarafi  and  the  people  of  Poclais,  in  which  is 
Bucephalus  Alexandria.  Above  these  is  the  very  war- 
like nation  of  the  Bactrians,  who  are  under  their  own 
king.  And  Alexander,  setting  out  from  these  parts, 
penetrated  to  the  Ganges,  leaving  aside  Damirica  and 
the  southern  part  of  India;  and  to  the  present  day  an- 
cient drachms  are  current  in  Barygaza,  coming  from 
this  country,  bearing  inscriptions  in  Greek  letters,  and 


42 


the  devices  of  those  who  reigned  after  Alexander, 
Apollodotus  and  Menander. 

48.  Inland  from  this  place  and  to  the  east,  is  the 
city  called  Ozene,  formerly  a royal  capital;  from  this 
place  are  brought  down  all  things  needed  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  country  about  Barygaza,  and  many  things 
for  our  trade:  agate  and  carnelian,  Indian  muslins  and 
mallow  cloth,  and  much  ordinary  cloth.  Through 
this  same  region  and  from  the  upper  country  is  brought 
the  spikenard  that  comes  through  Poclais;  that  is,  the 
Caspapyrene  and  Paropanisene  and  Cabolitic  and  that 
brought  through  the  adjoining  country  of  Scythia; 
also  costus  and  bdellium. 

49.  There  are  imported  into  this  market-town, 
wine,  Italian  preferred,  also  Laodicean  and  Arabian; 
copper,  tin,  and  lead;  coral  and  topaz;  thin  clothing 
and  inferior  sorts  of  all  kinds;  bright-colored  girdles  a 
cubit  wide;  storax,  sweet  clover,  flint  glass,  realgar,  an- 
timony, gold  and  silver  coin,  on  which  there  is  a profit 
when  exchanged  for  the  money  of  the  country;  and 
ointment,  but  not  very  costly  and  not  much.  And  for 
the  King  there  are  brought  into  those  places  very  costly 
vessels  of  silver,  singing  boys,  beautiful  maidens  for  the 
harem,  fine  wines,  thin  clothing  of  the  finest  weaves, 
and  the  choicest  ointments.  There  are  exported  from 
these  places  spikenard,  costus,  bdellium,  ivory,  agate 
and  carnelian,  lycium,  cotton  cloth  of  all  kinds,  silk 
cloth,  mallow  cloth,  yarn,  long  pepper  and  such  other 
things  as  are  brought  here  from  the  various  market- 
towns.  Those  bound  for  this  market-town  from  Egypt 
make  the  voyage  favorably  about  the  month  of  July, 
that  is  Epiphi. 


43 


50.  Beyond  Barygaza  the  adjoining  coast  extends 
in  a straight  line  from  north  to  south ; and  so  this  re- 
gion is  called  Dachinabades,  for  dachanos  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  natives  means  “south.”  The  inland 
country  back  from  the  coast  toward  the  east  comprises 
many  desert  regions  and  great  mountains;  and  all  kinds 
of  wild  beasts — leopards,  tigers,  elephants,  enormous 
serpents,  hyenas,  and  baboons  of  many  sorts ; and  many 
populous  nations,  as  far  as  the  Ganges. 

51.  Among  the  market-towns  of  Dachinabades 
there  are  two  of  special  importance;  Pasthana,  distant 
about  twenty  days’  journey  south  from  Barygaza;  be- 
yond which,  about  ten  days’  journey  east,  there  is 
another  very  great  city,  Tagara.  There  are  brought 
down  to  Barygaza  from  these  places  by  wagons  and 
through  great  tracts  without  roads,  from  Pasthana  car- 
nelian  in  great  quantity,  and  from  Tagara  much  com- 
mon cloth,  all  kinds  of  muslins  and  mallow  cloth,  and 
other  merchandise  brought  there  locally  from  the  re- 
gions along  the  sea-coast.  And  the  whole  course  to 
the  end  of  Damirica  is  seven  thousand  stadia;  but  the 
distance  is  greater  to  the  Coast  Country. 

52.  The  market-towns  of  this  region  are,  in  order, 
after  Barygaza : Suppara,  and  the  city  of  Calliena,  which 
in  the  time  of  the  elder  Saraganus  became  a lawful 
market-town;  but  since  it  came  into  the  possession  of 
Sandares  the  port  is  much  obstructed,  and  Greek  ships 
landing  there  may  chance  to  be  taken  to  Barygaza 
under  guard. 

53.  Beyond  Calliena  there  are  other  market-towns 
of  this  region ; Semylla,  Mandagora,  Palaepatmae,  Meli- 
zigara,  Byzantium,  Togarum  and  Aurannoboas.  Then 


44 


there  are  the  islands  called  Sesecrienas  and  that  of  the 
Aegidii,  and  that  of  the  Casnitae,  opposite  the  place 
called  Chersonesus  (and  in  these  places  there  are  pirates), 
and  after  this  the  White  Island.  Then  come  Naura 
and  Tyndis,  the  first  markets  of  Damirica,  and  then 
Muziris  and  Nelcynda,  which  are  now  of  leading  im- 
portance. 

54.  Tyndis  is  of  the  Kingdom  of  Cerohothra;  it 
is  a village  in  plain  sight  by  the  sea.  Muziris,  of  the 
same  Kingdom,  abounds  in  ships  sent  there  with  car- 
goes from  Arabia,  and  by  the  Greeks;  it  is  located  on 
a river,  distant  from  Tyndis  by  river  and  sea  five 
hundred  stadia,  and  up  the  river  from  the  shore  twenty 
stadia.  Nelcynda  is  distant  from  Muziris  by  river  and 
sea  about  five  hundred  stadia,  and  is  of  another  King- 
dom, the  Pandian.  This  place  also  is  situated  on  a 
river,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  stadia  from  the 
sea. 

55.  There  is  another  place  at  the  mouth  of  this 
river,  the  village  of  Bacare;  to  which  ships  drop  down 
on  the  outward  voyage  from  Nelcynda,  and  anchor  in 
the  roadstead  to  take  on  their  cargoes;  because  the 
river  is  full  of  shoals  and  the  channels  are  not  clear. 
The  kings  of  both  these  market-towns  live  in  the  in- 
terior. And  as  a sign  to  those  approaching  these  places 
from  the  sea  there  are  serpents  coming  forth  to  meet 
you,  black  in  color,  but  shorter,  like  snakes  in  the 
head,  and  with  blood-red  eyes. 

56.  They  send  large  ships  to  these  market-towns 
on  account  of  the  great  quantity  and  bulk  of  pepper  and 
malabathrum.  There  are  imported  here,  in  the  first 
place,  a great  quantity  of  coin ; topaz,  thin  clothing,  not 


45 


much;  figured  linens,  antimony,  coral,  crude  glass, 
copper,  tin,  lead;  wine,  not  much,  but  as  much  as  at 
Barygaza;  realgar  and  orpiment;  and  wheat  enough 
for  the  sailors,  for  this  is  not  dealt  in  by  the  merchants 
there.  There  is  exported  pepper,  which  is  produced 
in  quantity  in  only  one  region  near  these  markets,  a 
district  called  Cottonara.  Besides  this  there  are  ex- 
ported great  quantities  of  fine  pearls,  ivory,  silk  cloth, 
spikenard  from  the  Ganges,  malabathrum  from  the 
places  in  the  interior,  transparent  stones  of  all  kinds, 
diamonds  and  sapphires,  and  tortoise-shell;  that  from 
Chryse  Island,  and  that  taken  among  the  islands  along 
the  coast  of  Damirica.  They  make  the  voyage  to  this 
place  in  a favorable  season  who  set  out  from  Egypt 
about  the  month  of  July,  that  is  Epiphi. 

57.  This  whole  voyage  as  above  described,  from 
Cana  and  Eudaemon  Arabia,  they  used  to  make  in  small 
vessels,  sailing  close  around  the  shores  of  the  gulfs;  and 
Hippalus  was  the  pilot  who  by  observing  the  location 
of  the  ports  and  the  conditions  of  the  sea,  first  discov- 
ered how  to  lay  his  course  straight  across  the  ocean. 
For  at  the  same  time  when  with  us  the  Etesian  winds 
are  blowing,  on  the  shores  of  India  the  wind  sets  in 
from  the  ocean,  and  this  southwest  wind  is  called  Hip- 
palus, from  the  name  of  him  who  first  discovered  the 
passage  across.  From  that  time  to  the  present  day  ships 
start,  some  direct  from  Cana,  and  some  from  the  Cape 
of  Spices;  and  those  bound  for  Damirica  throw  the 
ship’s  head  considerably  off  the  wind;  while  those 
bound  for  Barygaza  and  Scythia  keep  along  shore  not 
more  than  three  days  and  for  the  rest  of  the  time  hold 
the  same  course  straight  out  to  sea  from  that  region, 


46 


with  a favorable  wind,  quite  away  from  the  land,  and 
so  sail  outside  past  the  aforesaid  gulfs. 

5 8.  Beyond  Bacare  there  is  the  Dark  Red  Mountain, 
and  another  district  stretching  along  the  coast  toward 
the  south,  called  Paralia.  The  first  place  is  called  Balita; 
it  has  a fine  harbor  and  a village  by  the  shore.  Beyond 
this  there  is  another  place  called  Comari,  at  which 
are  the  Cape  of  Comari  and  a harbor;  hither  come 
those  men  who  wish  to  consecrate  themselves  for  the 
rest  of  their  lives,  and  bathe  and  dwell  in  celibacy;  and 
women  also  do  the  same ; for  it  is  told  that  a goddess 
once  dwelt  here  and  bathed. 

59.  From  Comari  toward  the  south  this  region 
extends  to  Colchi,  where  the  pearl-fisheries  are;  (they 
are  worked  by  condemned  criminals) ; and  it  belongs 
to  the  Pandian  Kingdom.  Beyond  Colchi  there  fol- 
lows another  district  called  the  Coast  Country,  which 
lies  on  a bay,  and  has  a region  inland  called  Argaru. 
At  this  place,  and  nowhere  else,  are  bought  the  pearls 
gathered  on  the  coast  thereabouts;  and  from  there  are 
exported  muslins,  those  called  Argaritic. 

60.  Among  the  market-towns  of  these  countries, 
and  the  harbors  where  the  ships  put  in  from  Damirica 
and  from  the  north,  the  most  important  are,  in  order 
as  they  lie,  first  Camara,  then  Poduca,  then  Sopatma; 
in  which  there  are  ships  of  the  country  coasting  along 
the  shore  as  far  as  Damirica;  and  other  very  large  ves- 
sels made  of  single  logs  bound  together,  called  sa?igara; 
but  those  which  make  the  voyage  to  Chryse  and  to  the 
Ganges  are  called  colandia,  and  are  very  large.  There 
are  imported  into  these  places  everything  made  in  Da- 
mirica, and  the  greatest  part  of  what  is  brought  at  any 


47 


time  from  Egypt  comes  here,  together  with  most  kinds 
of  all  the  things  that  are  brought  from  Damirica  and 
of  those  that  are  carried  through  Paralia. 

61.  About  the  following  region,  the  course  trend- 
ing toward  the  east,  lying  out  at  sea  toward  the  west  is 
the  island  Palaesimundu,  called  by  the  ancients  Tapro- 
bane.  The  northern  part  is  a day’s  journey  distant, 
and  the  southern  part  trends  gradually  toward  the  west, 
and  almost  touches  the  opposite  shore  of  Azania.  It 
produces  pearls,  transparent  stones,  muslins,  and  tor- 
toise-shell. 

62.  About  these  places  is  the  region  of  Masalia 
stretching  a great  way  along  the  coast  before  the  inland 
country;  a great  quantity  of  muslins  is  made  there. 
Beyond  this  region,  sailing  toward  the  east  and  crossing 
the  adjacent  bay,  there  is  the  region  of  Dosarene,  yield- 
ing the  ivory  known  as  Dosarenic.  Beyond  this,  the 
course  trending  toward  the  north,  there  are  many  bar- 
barous tribes,  among  whom  are  the  Cirrhadas,  a race 
of  men  with  flattened  noses,  very  savage;  another  tribe, 
the  Bargysi;  and  the  Horse-faces  and  the  Long-faces, 
who  are  said  to  be  cannibals. 

63.  After  these,  the  course  turns  toward  the  east 
again,  and  sailing  with  the  ocean  to  the  right  and  the 
shore  remaining  beyond  to  the  left,  Ganges  comes  into 
view,  and  near  it  the  very  last  land,  toward  the  east, 
Chryse.  There  is  a river  near  it  called  the  Ganges, 
and  it  rises  and  falls  in  the  same  way  as  the  Nile.  On 
its  bank  is  a market-town  which  has  the  same  name  as 
the  river,  Ganges.  Through  this  place  are  brought 
malabathrum  and  Gangetic  spikenard  and  pearls,  and 
muslins  of  the  flnest  sorts,  which  are  called  Gangetic. 


48 


It  is  said  that  there  are  gold-mines  near  these  places, 
and  there  is  a gold  coin  which  is  called  ca/tis.  And 
just  opposite  this  river  there  is  an  island  in  the  ocean, 
the  last  part  of  the  inhabited  world  toward  the  east, 
under  the  rising  sun  itself;  it  is  called  Chryse;  and  it 
has  the  best  tortoise-shell  of  all  the  places  on  the  Ery- 
thraean Sea. 

64.  After  this  region  under  the  very  north,  the  sea 
outside  ending  in  a land  called  This,  there  is  a very 
great  inland  city  called  Thins,  from  which  raw  silk 
and  silk  yarn  and  silk  cloth  are  brought  on  foot  through 
Bactria  to  Barygaza,  and  are  also  exported  to  Dami- 
rica  by  way  of  the  river  Ganges.  But  the  land  of 
This  is  not  easy  of  access;  few  men  come  from  there, 
and  seldom.  The  country  lies  under  the  Lesser  Bear, 
and  is  said  to  border  on  the  farthest  parts  of  Pontus  and 
the  Caspian  Sea,  next  to  which  lies  Lake  Masotis ; all 
of  which  empty  into  the  ocean. 

65.  Every  year  on  the  borders  of  the  land  of  This 
there  comes  together  a tribe  of  men  with  short  bodies 
and  broad,  flat  faces,  and  by  nature  peaceable;  they 
are  called  Besatas,  and  are  almost  entirely  uncivilized. 
They  come  with  their  wives  and  children,  carrying 
great  packs  and  plaited  baskets  of  what  looks  like  green 
grape-leaves.  They  meet  in  a place  between  their  own 
country  and  the  land  of  This.  There  they  hold  a feast 
for  several  days,  spreading  out  the  baskets  under  them- 
selves as  mats,  and  then  return  to  their  own  places  in 
the  interior.  And  then  the  natives  watching  them 
come  into  that  place  and  gather  up  their  mats;  and 
they  pick  out  from  the  braids  the  fibers  which  they  call 
petri.  They  lay  the  leaves  closely  together  in  several 


49 


layers  and  make  them  into  balls,  which  they  pierce 
with  the  fibers  from  the  mats.  And  there  are  three 
sorts;  those  made  of  the  largest  leaves  are  called  the 
large-ball  malabathrum;  those  of  the  smaller,  the  me- 
dium-ball; and  those  of  the  smallest,  the  small-ball. 
Thus  there  exist  three  sorts  of  malabathrum,  and  it  is 
brought  into  India  by  those  who  prepare  it. 

66.  The  regions  beyond  these  places  are  either 
difficult  of  access  because  of  their  excessive  winters 
and  great  cold,  or  else  cannot  be  sought  out  because 
of  some  divine  influence  of  the  gods. 


50 


NOTES 


(Numerals  refer  to  paragraphs  similarly  numbered  in  the  text.) 

T itle.  Periplus  was  the  name  applied  to  a numerous  class  of 
writings  in  Roman  times,  which  answered  for  sailing-chart  and  trav- 
eler's hand-book.  The  title  might  be  rendered  as  “Guide-Book  to 
the  Erythraean  Sea." 

Title.  Erythraean  Sea  was  the  term  applied  by  Greek  and  Ro- 
man geographers  to  the  Indian  Ocean,  including  its  adjuncts,  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Persian  Gulf.  Erythra  means  Red,  so  that  the  modern 
name  perpetuates  the  ancient;  but  we  are  assured  by  Agatharchides 
that  it  means,  not  Red  Sea,  but  Sea  of  King  Erythras,  following  a 
Persian  legend. 

The  following  is  the  account  given  by  Agatharchides  of  the  origin 
of  the  name:  (De  Mari  Erythreeo , §5.) 

“The  Persian  account  is  after  this  manner.  There  was  a man 
famous  for  his  valor  and  wealth,  by  name  Erythras,  a Persian  by 
birth,  son  of  Myozaeus.  His  home  was  by  the  sea,  facing  toward 
islands  which  are  not  now  desert,  but  were  so  at  the  time  of  the  em- 
pire of  the  Medes,  when  Erythras  lived.  In  the  winter-time  he  used 
to  go  to  Pasargadae,  making  the  journey  at  his  own  cost;  and  he  in- 
dulged in  these  changes  of  scene  now  for  profit,  and  now  for  some 
pleasure  of  his  own  life.  On  a time  the  lions  charged  into  a large 
flock  of  his  mares,  and  some  were  slain;  while  the  rest,  unharmed 
but  terror-stricken  at  what  they  had  seen,  fled  to  the  sea.  A strong 
wind  was  blowing  from  the  land,  and  as  they  plunged  into  the  waves 
in  their  terror,  they  were  carried  beyond  their  footing;  and  their  fear 
continuing,  they  swam  through  the  sea  and  came  out  on  the  shore  of 
the  island  opposite.  With  them  went  one  of  the  herdsmen,  a youth 
of  marked  bravery,  who  thus  reached  the  shore  by  clinging  to  the 
shoulders  of  a mare.  Now  Erythras  looked  for  his  mares,  and  not 
seeing  them,  first  put  together  a raft  of  small  size,  but  secure  in  the 
strength  of  its  building;  and  happening  on  a favorable  wind,  he 
pushed  off  into  the  strait,  across  which  he  was  swiftly  carried  by  the 
waves,  and  so  found  his  mares  and  found  their  keeper  also.  And 
then,  being  pleased  with  the  island,  he  built  a stronghold  at  a place 
well  chosen  by  the  shore,  and  brought  hither  from  the  main-land  op- 
posite such  as  were  dissatisfied  with  their  life  there,  and  subsequently 


51 


settled  all  the  other  uninhabited  islands  with  a numerous  population; 
and  such  was  the  glory  ascribed  to  him  by  the  popular  voice  because 
of  these  his  deeds,  that  even  down  to  our  own  time  they  have  called 
that  sea,  infinite  in  extent,  Erythreean.  And  so,  for  the  reason  here 
set  forth,  it  is  to  be  well  distinguished  (for  to  say  Er'ythra  thalaita , Sea 
of  Erythras,  is  a very  different  thing  from  Thalatta  erythra,  Red  Sea) ; 
for  the  one  commemorates  the  most  illustrious  man  of  that  sea,  while 
the  other  refers  to  the  color  of  the  water.  Now  the  one  explanation 
of  the  name,  as  due  to  the  color,  is  false  (for  the  sea  is  not  red),  but 
the  other,  ascribing  it  to  the  man  who  ruled  there,  is  the  true  one, 
as  the  Persian  story  testifies.” 

Here  is  manifestly  a kernel  of  truth,  referring,  however,  to  a 
much  earlier  time  than  the  Empire  of  the  Medes  and  their  capital 
Pasargadae.  It  suggests  the  theory  of  a Cushite-Elamite  migration 
around  Arabia,  as  set  forth  by  Glaser  and  Hommel:  the  story  of  a 
people  from  Elam,  who  settled  in  the  Bahrein  Islands  and  then  spread 
along  South  Arabia,  leaving  their  epithet  of  “Red”  or  “ruddy”  in 
many  places,  including  the  sea  that  washed  their  shores  and  floated 
their  vessels:  “Sea  of  the  Red  People,”  or,  according  to  Agathar- 
chides,  “of  the  Red  King.”  See  under  §§  4,  23  and  27. 

E Designated  ports. — Trade  was  limited  to  ports  of  entry 
established,  or,  as  the  text  has  it,  “designated"  by  law,  and  super- 
vised by  government  officials  who  levied  duties.  There  were  many 
such  ports  on  the  Red  Sea  under  the  Ptolemies.  There  were  also 
ports  of  entry  maintained  by  the  NabataeanKingdom,  by  the  Homerite 
Kingdom  in  Yemen,  and  by  the  newly-established  Kingdom  of  the 
Axumites;  the  latter,  possibly,  farmed  to  Egyptian  Greeks,  now  Ro- 
man subjects. 

Fabricius  objects  to  “designated,"  and  translates  “frequented,” 
thereby  straining  the  meaning  of  the  word  and  losing  its  obvious  de- 
scription of  historical  facts. 

Under  the  early  Ptolemies,  who  succeeded  Alexander  the  Great, 
Egypt  went  far  toward  recovering  her  former  wealth  and  glory.  Under 
Ptolemy  II,  called  Philadelphus  ( B.  C.  285-246)  the  canal  between 
the  Nile  and  the  Red  Sea  (originally  dug  by  one  of  the  Sesostrises, 
about  the  20th  century  B.  C.,  reopened  under  the  Empire  in  the  15th 
century,  and  partly  reopened  by  the  Persians  under  Darius  in  the  5th 
century),  was  once  more  open  to  commerce;  various  caravan-routes, 
carefully  provided  with  wells  and  stopping-places,  were  opened  be- 
tween the  river  and  the  sea,  and  where  they  terminated  ports  of  entry 
were  established  and  colonized.  Egyptian  shipping  on  the  Red  Sea 
was  encouraged,  and  regular  trade  was  opened  with  the  Sabaeans  of 


52 


South  Arabia,  and  the  tribes  of  the  Somali  coast.  The  names  of  all 
these  ports,  and  a description  of  this  newly-created  commerce,  in 
terms  of  romantic  enthusiasm,  are  given  by  Agatharchides  in  his  work 
on  the  Erythraean  Sea.  At  the  time  of  this  Periplus,  the  remain- 
ing settlements  seem  to  be  Arsinoe,  Myos-hormus,  Berenice,  Ptolemais 
and  Adulis.  The  other  places  mentioned  by  Agatharchides  had 
probably  lost  their  importance  as  the  Egyptian  ships  ventured  farther 
beyond  the  straits  and  frequented  the  richer  markets  that  fringed  the 
Gulf  of  Aden. 

E Mussel  Harbor  (Myos-hormus),  is  identified  with  the  bay 
within  the  headland  now  known  as  Ras  Abu  Somer,  27°  12/  N. , 
35°  55'  E.  It  was  founded  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  B.  C.  274. 
He  selected  it  as  the  principal  port  of  Egyptian  trade  with  India,  in 
preference  to  Arsinoe  (near  the  modern  Suez),  which  was  closer  to 
the  Egyptian  capital,  but  difficult  of  access  because  of  the  bad  passage 
through  the  upper  waters  of  the  Red  Sea.  Myos-hormus  was  distant 
six  or  seven  days  from  Coptos  on  the  Nile,  along  a road  opened 
through  the  desert  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  Strabo  (XVII,  I,  45) 
says  “at  present  Coptos  and  Myos-hormus  are  in  repute,  and  they 
are  frequented,  f ormerly  the  camel-merchants  traveled  in  the  night, 
directing  their  course  by  observing  the  stars,  and,  like  mariners,  car- 
ried with  them  a supply  of  water.  But  now  watering-places  are  pro- 
vided; water  is  also  obtained  by  digging  to  a great  depth,  and  rain- 
water is  found  although  rain  rarely  falls,  which  is  also  collected  in 
reservoirs.”  Coptos  is  the  modern  Koft,  in  the  bend  of  the  Nile. 

Vessels  bound  for  Africa  and  Southern  Arabia  left  Myos-hormus 
about  the  autumnal  equinox,  when  the  N.  W.  wind  then  prevailing 
carried  them  quickly  down  the  gulf.  Those  bound  for  India  or  Cey- 
lon left  in  July,  and  if  they  cleared  the  Red  Sea  before  the  first  of 
September  they  had  the  monsoon  to  assist  their  passage  across  the 
ocean. 

1.  Sailing. — The  ship  used  by  the  author  of  the  Periplus  prob- 
ably did  not  differ  very  materially  from  the  types  created  in  Egypt  long 
before,  as  depicted  in  the  reliefs  of  the  Punt  Expedition  in  the  Der-el- 
Bahri  temple  at  Thebes,  and  elsewhere.  By  the  first  century  A.  D. 
the  single  square  sail,  with  two  yards,  each  much  longer  than  the 
height  of  the  sail,  which  distinguished  the  shipping  of  the  15th  century 
B.  C.,  had  been  modified  by  omitting  the  lower  yard  and  by  increas- 
ing the  height  of  the  mast;  while  a triangular  topsail  had  come  into 
general  use.  The  artimon  or  sloping  foremast,  later  developed  into  a 
bowsprit,  was  not  generally  used,  even  in  the  Mediterranean,  until 
the  2d  century.  The  accompanying  illustration  of  a modern  Burmah 


53 


( From  a sketch  by  R.  T.  Pritchett.  ) 


trader,  which  perpetuates  in  many  ways  the  shipbuilding  ideas  of  an- 
cient Egypt,  probably  gives  a better  idea  of  our  author’s  ship  than  any 
of  the  Greek  or  Roman  coins  or  reliefs,  which  were  all  of  Mediter- 
ranean shipping,  built  for  different  conditions  and  purposes. 

In  the  Indian  Ocean  navigation  depended  on  the  trade-winds, 
and  voyages  were  timed  so  that  the  ship  could  run  before  the  wind  in 
either  direction,  without  calling  the  rudder  into  much  use.  This  was 
at  the  quarter,  the  steersman  plying  the  tiller  from  his  station  high  in 
stern,  overlooking  the  whole  vessel. 

Hippalus’  discovery  of  the  periodicity  of  the  trade-winds,  described 
in  § 57,  carried  with  it  a knowledge  of  steering  the  boat  somewhat 
off  the  wind,  to  reach  a destination  farther  south  than  the  straight 
course  would  make  possible.  This  was  done  partly  by  the  rudder,, 
but  largely  by  shifting  the  yard. 


54 


The  lateen  sail,  as  exemplified  in  the  Arab  dhow,  the  Bombay 
kotia , and  so  on,  came  into  use  about  the  4th  century  B.  Cl,  but  was 
used  by  Arab  and  Hindu,  rather  than  Egyptian  or  Greek. 

See  Chatterton:  Sailing  Ships  and  their  Story : Torr:  Ancient  Ships-,  Holmes: 
Ancient  and  Modern  Ships-,  Pritchett:  Sketches  of  Shipping  and  Craft ; Lindsay: 
History  of  Merchant  Shipping  and  Ancient  Commerce ; Charnock:  History  o]  Ma- 
rine Architecture-,  Jal:  Archeologie  Nanjale. 


1.  Stadia. — Three  stadia  were  in  use  in  the  Roman  world  at 
this  time, — the  Phileterian  of  525  to  the  degree,  the  Olympic  of  600, 
and  that  of  Eratosthenes,  of  700.  Reduced  to  English  measure  this 
wotdd  make  the  Phileterian  stadium  equivalent  to  about  650  feet,  the 
Olympic  about  600  feet,  and  that  of  Eratosthenes  about  520  feet. 
The  stadium  of  the  Periplus  seems  to  be  that  of  Eratosthenes.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  ten  stadia  of  the  Periplus  to  the  English  statute  mile 
would  be  a fair  calculation.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  all 
distances  named  in  this  text  are  approximations,  based  principally  on 
the  length  of  time  consumed  in  going  from  place  to  place,  which 
naturally  varied  according  to  direction  of  the  wind  and  current,  of 
sailing-course,  and  other  factors  as  well.  The  distance  is  generally 
given  in  round  numbers;  and  without  any  means  of  arriving  at  an 
exact  calculation,  the  figures  in  the  text  can  be  considered  only  as 
approximations. 

According  to  the  system  of  measurement  laid  down  by  Ptolemy, 
the  circumference  of  the  earth  was  estimated  at  180,000  stadia,  with 
500  stadia  to  the  degree. 

The  true  length  of  the  degree  is  600  stadia. 

The  Olympic  or  standard  Greek  stadium  (being  the  length  of 
the  race-course  at  Olympia),  was  600  Greek  feet,  or  8 to  the  Roman 
mile.  There  was  a later  stadium  of  which  7/2  went  to  the  Roman 
mile  (1000  paces,  4854  English  feet).  This,  the  Phileterian  stadium, 
survived  in  Arabic  science,  and  thence  in  the  calculations  of  mediaeval 
Europe;  being  very  nearly  the  English  furlong. 

According  to  Col.  Leake’s  calculations, 

1 Olympic  stadium  = 606.75  English  feet. 

10  “ “ = 6067.50  “ 

1 Nautical  mile  = 6075.50 

1 Admiralty  knot  = 6086.50 

or,  by  Clarke's  measurement,  6087.11  “ 

Therefore, 

10  Olympic  stadia  = 1 minute  of  the  equator. 

600  “ “ =1  degree 


55 


1 Roman  mile  = 1000  passus  = 4854  English  feet. 

1 Old  English  mile  = 1000  paces  — 5090 

1 Modern  Statute — 5280 

75  Roman  miles  = 1 degree. 

(or  75.09  to  be  exact). 

4 Roman  miles  = 19,416  ft.,  English  = 1 marine  league. 

The  earth’s  circumference  = 21,600  nautical  miles,  or 

= 24,874  to  25,020  statute  miles. 

A degree  on  the  equator  = 69.1  to  69.5  statute  miles. 

The  Tordesillas  geographers,  in  1494,  gave  21.625  leagues  to 
the  equatorial  degree.  They  were  wrong,  but  followed  Eratosthenes, 
who  made  the  globe  l-16th  larger  than  it  really  is. 

Vespucci,  following  Ptolemy  and  Alfragan,  figured  6000  leagues, 
or  24,000  Roman  miles,  as  the  measure  of  the  earth’s  circumference; 
so  that  dividing  by  360,  16 Vl  leagues  made  a degree. 

Columbus,  following  various  Arabian  geographers,  made  the 
degree  56/3  miles,  or  14 Yf>  leagues. 

All  this  confusion  goes  back  to  some  deduction  based  on  Ptolemy. 

By  1517,  according  to  Navarrete,  the  valuation  of  17/4  leagues 
to  the  degree  had  become  general.  At  the  treaty  of  Zaragoza,  in 
1529,  that  ratio  was  admitted  on  both  sides. 

The  correct  figure  is  very  close  to  17p4  leagues. 

All  ancient  calculations  were  based  on  dead  reckoning.  The 
log-line  did  come  into  use  until  1521. 

See  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  Le  Nord  de  FAfrique  dans  F Antiquit'e  grecque  et 
romaine.  Paris,  1863  : p.  197. 

Samuel  Edward  Dawson : The  Line  of  Demarcation  of  Pope  Alexander  VI , 
and  that  of  the  Treaty  of  Tordesillas , in  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Canada,  1899:  Vol.  V.  § 2,  pp.  467  ff. 


1.  Berenice  (named  for  the  mother  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus), 
is  identified  with  Umm-el-Ketef  Bay,  below  Ras  Benas,  23°  55r  N. 
and  about  35°  34/  E.  It  is  258  Roman  miles,  or  11  days,  from 
Coptos,  by  a road  across  the  desert.  There  are  ruins  still  visible,  even 
the  arrangement  of  streets  being  clear;  in  the  center  is  a small 
Egyptian  temple  with  hieroglyphics  and  bas-reliefs  of  Greek  workman- 
ship. There  is  a fine  natural  harbor,  but  the  bar  is  now  impassable 
at  low  water;  and  Strabo  (XVI,  IV,  6)  mentions  dangerous  rocks 
and  violent  winds  from  the  sea. 

At  the  time  of  this  Periplus,  Berenice  seems  to  have  been  the 
leading  port  of  Egypt  for  the  Eastern  trade,  and  was  probably  the 
home  of  the  author. 


56 


2.  Berber  Country. — This  word  means  more  than  the  “land 
of  the  barbarians,”  and  seems,  like  our  modern  “Barbary  States,”  to 
refer  to  the  Berber  race,  as  representing  the  ancient  Hamitic  stock  of 
North  Africa. 

The  name  itself  seems  to  be  foreign  to  the  people,  and  is  prob- 
ably related  to  the  Arabic  bar , a desert;  and  its  application  to  North 
Africa  recalls  that  ancient  race-opposition  about  the  Gulf  of  Aden, 
when  the  Red  Men , or  ruddy  people,  overcame  the  “children  of  the 
desert”  ; who  spread  over  all  North  Africa  and  carried  the  name  with 
them,  submitting  time  after  time  to  similar  Semitic  conquests,  Phoe- 
nician, Carthaginian  or  Saracen. 

The  occurrence  of  the  name  throughout  North  Africa  is  re- 
markable. We  have  the  modern  Somali  port  of  Berbera,  the  Nile 
town  and  district  of  Berber  (and  its  inhabitants,  the  Barbara,  Barbe- 
rins  or  Barbarins,  who  appear  in  the  ancient  Theban  inscriptions  as 
Beraberata) ; the  Barbary  States,  the  modern  Berbers  or  Kabyles; 
and  at  the  western  extremity,  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Morocco,  still 
another  tribe  calling  themselves  Berabra. 

The  ancient  Egyptians  extended  the  word  to  include  the  meanings 
of  savage  and  outlander,  or  public  enemies  in  general;  and  from  them 
the  Greeks  took  the  word  into  their  own  language,  with  like  mean- 
ings. 

The  Berbers  of  the  Periplus  probably  included  the  ancestors  of 
the  Bejas  between  the  Nile  and  Red  Sea,  the  Danakils  between  the 
Upper  Nile,  Abyssinia  and  the  Gulf  of  Aden,  and  the  Somals  and 
Gallas. 

2.  Cave -Dwelling  Fish -Eaters,  Wild -Flesh -Eaters, 
Calf-Eaters  . — The  original  names,  Ichthyophagi  (Troglodytae), 
Agriophagi,  Moschophagi,  add  nothing  to  our  ethnic  knowledge,  being 
merely  appellations  given  by  the  Greeks;  and  they  are  therefore 
translated.  These  tribes  are  represented  by  the  modern  Bisharins. 
“Calf-Eaters”  seems  to  mean  eaters  after  the  style  of  calves,  i.  e.  of 
green  things,  rather  than  eaters  of  calves.  Some  commentators  would 
replace  Agriophagi  by  Acridophagi,  locust-eaters. 

2.  Meroe  was  the  final  capital  of  the  Kingdom  of  Nubia.  It 
became  the  royal  seat  about  560  B.  C.  and  continued  as  such  until  a 
few  years  after  this  Periplus,  when  the  kingdom,  worn  out  by  con- 
tinued attacks  by  the  tribes  of  the  desert  and  the  negroes  of  the  Sudan, 
fell  to  pieces.  It  was  located  on  the  Nile,  below  the  6th  cataract, 
but  just  within  the  fertile  region  that  begins  above  the  confluence  of 
the  Atbara;  and  is  identified  with  the  modern  Begerawiyeh,  about 
16°  55'  N. 


57 


The  early  Kingdom  of  Egypt  comprised  the  Nile  delta  and  the 
fertile  valley  of  the  river  as  far  as  the  1st  cataract,  the  modern  Assuan. 
Here  a narrow  gorge  made  the  stream  impassable  for  boats,  and 
formed  a natural  barrier.  Above  Assuan  the  desert  hugs  the  river 
close  until  above  the  5th  cataract,  when  it  gives  place  to  open  fertile 
country.  Between  the  island  of  Elephantine  and  Assuan,  and  the 
site  of  Meroe,  the  distance  is  about  480  miles  in  a direct  line,  and  by 
the  river  about  1000  miles.  This  narrow  strip  of  river-bed  was  Nubia 
proper.  The  Atbara,  flowing  into  the  Nile  some  40  miles  below 
Meroe,  rises  in  northern  Abyssinia  or  Tigre;  at  Khartum,  about  150 
miles  above  Meroe,  the  river  branches  again;  the  Blue  Nile  flowing 
down  from  the  mountains  of  Central  Abyssinia  or  Amhara,  and  the 
White  Nile  from  the  Nyanza  lakes.  These  regions  were  more  or 
less  subject  to  Nubia  at  different  periods,  but  their  population  varied 
greatly.  The  Abyssinian  highlands  were  peopled  by  a Hamitic  stock 
originally  related  to  the  Egyptians  as  well  as  to  the  still  uncivilized 
tribes  of  the  eastern  and  western  desert,  but  with  a mixture  of  negro 
blood  and  a strong  strain  of  Arabian  origin.  The  upper  reaches  of 
the  Nile  were  peopled  by  various  negro  tribes,  entirely  distinct  from 
Egyptian  or  Berber.  From  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea  there  was  a 
regular  trade-route  across  the  Tigre  highlands  to  the  Atbara  River  and 
so  to  the  Nile;  and  other  routes  reached  Meroe  from  the  Sudan  and 
Uganda.  Thence  the  products  of  trade  found  their  way  down-stream 
to  Elephantine,  beyond  which  no  negro  was  permitted  to  go.  Here 
was  the  market  for  all  Egypt,  and  the  modern  town,  Assuan,  repeats 
its  history,  as  the  very  name  means  ‘‘market.”  From  the  Sudan 
came  gold,  ebony  and  ivory,  panther  skins  and  ostrich  feathers;  from 
the  Nubian  desert  east  of  the  Nile,  gold;  from  the  Red  Sea  across 
the  Tigre,  myrrh,  frankincense,  and  various  fragrant  woods  and  resins: 
all  of  which  were  in  constant  demand  for  the  Egyptian  treasury  and 
the  service  of  the  temples,  and  provided  a constant  reason  for  Egyp- 
tian control  of  this  important  avenue  of  commerce. 

In  the  early  period  of  the  Egyptian  nation  the  power  centered  in 
the  Delta,  but  a loose  control  seems  to  have  been  maintained  between 
the  1st  and  2d  cataracts  over  tribes  appearing  in  the  inscriptions  as 
“Wa-wat,”  probably  negroes.  During  the  prosperous  period  of  the 
Old  Kingdom,  between  the  30th  and  25th  centuries  B.  C. , the  river- 
routes  were  kept  in  order,  and  Egyptian  ships  sailed  the  Red  Sea  as 
far  as  the  myrrh-country.  Then  came  a period  of  disorder  and  the 
fall  of  the  Delta  dynasties,  followed  in  the  22d  century  by  the  rise  of 
the  Theban  or  Middle  Kingdom,  the  dynasties  of  the  Amenemhets 
and  Sesostrises.  These  kings  fully  conquered  the  river  tribes  to  the 


58 


2d  cataract,  as  well  as  the  ‘ ‘Nubian  troglodytes' ' of  the  eastern  desert, 
where  they  developed  the  gold-mines  that  added  so  much  to  their 
wealth  and  power.  In  this  period,  from  the  22d  to  the  18th  cen- 
turies B.  C. , the  name  “Cush"  first  appears  in  the  inscriptions,  indi- 
cating, as  Glaser  thought,  a migration  overland  to  the  Nile  by  the  wan- 
dering Cushite-Elamite  tribes  who  had  left  their  home  at  the  head  of 
the  Persian  Gulf  some  300  years  previously,  and  who,  after  settling 
in  the  incense-producing  regions  of  Southern  Arabia  and  Somaliland, 
whence  they  had  opened  trade  with  Mesopotamia,  had  now  traced 
the  same  trade  to  its  other  great  market  in  Egypt.  The  name  1 ‘Cush’  ’ 
seems  to  have  included  not  only  the  Nile  valley  between  the  3d  and 
and  6th  cataracts,  but  much  of  the  highlands.  These  people,  appar- 
ently a mongrel  race,  were  held  in  great  contempt  by  the  Egyptians, 
whose  annals  contain  numerous  references  such  as  the  following: 
“Impost  of  the  wretched  Cush:  gold,  negro  slaves,  male  and 
female;  oxen,  and  calves;  bulls;  vessels  laden  with  ivory,  ebony, 
all  the  good  products  of  this  country,  together  with  the  harvests  of 
this  country. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Xllth  dynasty,  1788  B.  C. , came  a period 
of  feudal  disorder,  followed  by  an  invasion  from  Arabia  and  a foreign 
dynasty,  the  Hyksos,  probably  Minasan  Beduins.  This  was  ended 
by  the  expulsion  of  the  Arabs  and  the  establishment  of  the  Empire 
under  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  (1580-1350  B.  C.).  These  great  Pha- 
raohs carried  the  Egyptian  arms  to  their  widest  extent,  from  Asia  Minor 
to  the  4th  cataract  and  possibly  even  farther  south.  The  collapse  of 
the  Empire  at  the  death  of  Rameses  III  (1167  B.  C.  ) left  Nubia  still 
Egyptian.  Invasions  from  the  west  resulted  in  a series  of  Libyan 
dynasties,  which  began,  under  Sheshonk  or  Shishak  I,  by  reasserting 
sovereignty  over  Syria  and  by  plundering  the  temple  of  Solomon  and 
the  treasures  of  the  newly-established  Kingdom  of  Israel;  but  the 
latter  part  of  this  administration  was  so  inefficient  that  Theban  princes 
established  in  Nubia  separated  from  Egypt  and  formed  a new  king- 
dom, now  called  Ethiopia  (indicating  a growing  Arabian  settlement), 
with  capital  at  Napata,  below  the  4th  cataract  (the  modern  Gebel 
Barkal),  subsequently  invading  Egypt  and  establishing  their  power 
over  the  whole  valley,  from  722  to  663  B.  C.  Then  came  the  As- 
syrian invasions,  first  by  Esarhaddon  and  then  the  definite  conquest  of 
Egypt  proper  by  Assurbanipal  in  661  B.  C.  The  ruin  of  Thebes  is 
vividly  described  by  the  prophet  Nahum  (III,  8-10).  The  Nubians 
withdrew  to  Napata.  There  they  were  attacked  by  the  restored 
power  of  Egypt  under  Psammetichus  II,  and  about  560  B.  C.,  trans- 
ferred their  capital  to  Meroe;  a much  better  location,  less  open  to 


59 


attack  from  the  north,  in  a fertile  region  instead  of  a narrow  gorge  in 
the  desert,  and  in  the  direct  path  of  the  rapidly-growing  immigration 
and  trade  from  the  south  and  east.  Here  they  checked  the  army  of 
Cambyses,  which  made  Egypt  a Persian  province  in  525  B.  C.  The 
capital  fell  into  his  hands  for  a time,  but  the  country  was  not  sub- 
dued. The  conquest  of  Egypt  by  Alexander  the  Great,  332  B.  C., 
left  them  undisturbed;  and  with  his  successors,  the  Ptolemies,  they 
maintained  an  increasing  commerce,  notwithstanding  the  active  policy 
then  pursued  to  assert  Egyptian  supremacy  in  the  Red  Sea. 

(See  Breasted:  A History  of  Egypt.  N.  Y. , 1905.) 

In  30  B.  C.  Egypt  became  a Roman  province  and  the  Nubians 
met  a different  foe.  Their  queen,  Candace,  attacked  the  Egyptians, 
and  a punitive  expedition  by  Petronius  destroyed  their  power.  (Strabo, 
XVII,  1,  54.)  Gradually  the  enfeebled  kingdom  was  engulfed  by 
the  tribes  of  the  desert;  and  Pliny,  whose  Natural  History  was 
completed  in  77  A.  D.,  notes  that  of  a long  list  of  cities  and  towns 
above  Philae,  described  a century  before,  Nero’s  embassy  in  67  A.  D. 
could  find  hardly  a trace,  and  that  the  capital  itself,  Meroe,  was  but  a 
collection  of  a few  wretched  huts.  National  decay  had  done  its  work; 
and  the  few  remnants  left  from  the  attacks  of  the  Berbers  had  joined 
the  new  “Kingdom  of  the  Axumites”  in  the  highlands  to  the  south- 
east. 

In  later  times,  under  the  Byzantine  Empire,  Nubia  again  became 
a center  of  culture  and  prosperity.  Its  new  capital,  the  modern  Khar- 
tum, became  a leader  in  Christian  thought,  and  maintained  its  influ- 
ence even  after  the  Saracens  had  overrun  Egypt;  only  finally  to 
repeat  history  by  being  utterly  destroyed  by  a new  irruption  from  the 
desert,  under  the  spur  of  Islam,  and  to  leave  again  to  the  Abyssinian 
highlands  the  defence  of  what  remained  of  its  Monophysite  Christianity. 

Josephus  ( Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  II,  9)  has  an  account  of  a war 
of  the  Egyptians  against  the  Ethiopians,  under  the  command  of  Moses. 
The  Ethiopians  were  finally  driven  back  into  their  capital,  Saba,  “to 
which  city  Cambyses  afterwards  gave  the  name  of  Meroe,  in  compli- 
ment to  his  sister  ....  it  being  situated  at  the  conflux  of  the  rivers 
Astaphus  and  Astabora  with  the  Nile.”  The  city  was  finally  delivered 
up  to  the  Egyptians  as  the  condition  of  Moses’  marriage  with  the 
Ethiopian  King’s  daughter  Tharbis,  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  him. 

Aside  from  the  obvious  anachronisms  in  this  story,  one  fact  is  of 
interest:  the  name  of  the  capital,  Saba,  indicates  that  Nubia  was 
ruled,  if  not  mainly  peopled,  by  Arabs,  who  had  followed  the  ancient 
trade-routes  from  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea. 

Glaser  ( Punt  und  die  siidarabischen  Reiche,  42-3)  notes  that  Napata 


60 


also  is  a Semitic  name,  probably  Nabat,  allied  to  Nabatu  of  the  Assy- 
rian inscriptions,  to  Nebaioth  (son  of  Ishmael),  and  to  the  later 
Nabataeans  of  § 19. 

Herodotus  (II,  8)  refers  to  the  “mountain  of  Arabia”  extending 
from  north  to  south  along  the  Nile,  stretching  up  to  the  Erythraean 
Sea,  and  says  that  at  its  greatest  width  from  east  to  west  it  is  a two- 
months’  journey;  and  that  “eastward  its  confines  produce  frankin- 
cense. ” Here  also  is  an  indication  of  the  connection  of  Nubia  with 
Somaliland,  confirmed  by  the  pompous  titles  of  the  later  Cushite  kings 
in  Meroe  (Ed.  Meyer;  Geschichte  Aegyptens,  359):  “Kings  of  the 
four  quarters  of  the  world  and  of  the  nine  distant  peoples.” 

3.  Ptolemais. — This  is  identified  with  Er-rih  island,  18°  9'  N. , 
38°  27'  E.,  the  southern  portion  of  the  Tokar  delta.  It  was  fortified 
by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (B.  C.  285-246),  and  became  the  center  of 
the  elephant-trade.  Being  situated  near  the  Nubian  forest,  where  ele- 
phants abounded,  its  location  was  very  favorable.  The  Egyptians  had 
formerly  imported  their  elephants  from  Asia;  but  the  cost  was  high 
and  the  supply  uncertain,  and  Ptolemy  sent  his  own  hunters  to  Nubia, 
against  the  will  of  the  inhabitants,  to  obtain  a nearer  supply. 

From  very  early  times  there  was  a trade-route  from  the  Red  Sea 
to  the  Nile  at  this  point,  terminating  near  Meroe,  and  corresponding 
closely  to  the  railway  recently  built  between  Berber  on  the  Nile  and 
Port  Sudan  on  the  Red  Sea. 

3.  Adulis. — The  present  port  is  Massowa,  center  of  the 
Italian  colony  of  Eritrea,  which  lies  near  the  mouth  of  the  bay  of 
Adulis.  The  ancient  name  is  preserved  in  the  modern  village  of 
Zula.  The  location  has  been  described  by  J.  Theodore  Bent,  ( Sa- 
cred City  of  the  Ethiopians , London,  1896;  pp.  228-230).  It  is  on 
the  west  side  of  Annesley  Bay,  and  numerous  black  basalt  ruins  are 
still  visible  there.  Adulis  was  one  of  the  colonies  of  Ptolemy  Phila- 
delphus, and  was  always  of  commercial  importance  because  it  was  the 
natural  port  for  Abyssinia  and  the  Sudan.  It  seems  to  have  been 
built  by  Syrian  Greeks.  Here  was  the  famous  inscription  reciting  the 
conquests  of  Ptolemy  Euergetes  (B.  C.  247-223)  with  an  addition 
by  Aizanas,  or  El  Abreha,  King  of  Abyssinia  about  330  A.  D.,  for  a 
copy  of  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  Christian  Topography  of  Cosmas 
Indicopleustes. 

4.  Coloe. — The  ruins  of  Coloe  were  found  by  Bent  at  Kohaito, 
( Sacred  City  of  the  Ethiopians , Chap.  XII).  It  is  a large  flat  plateau 
many  miles  in  extent,  high  above  the  surrounding  country  (7000  feet  .) 
and  thus  cool  and  comfortable.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  main  set- 
tlement, and  Adulis  the  trading-post,  which  was  inhabited  no  more 


61 


than  necessary  because  of  its  hot  climate.  There  is  a fine  dam,  219 
feet  long,  and  in  one  place  74  feet  4 inches  above  bed-rock,  with 
sluice-gates  5 feet  3 inches  wide;  the  whole  built  of  large  cut  stones 
without  mortar.  When  in  use  a large  lake  would  have  formed. 
There  are  numerous  ruins  of  stone  temples  and  dwellings;  the  ar- 
chitecture resembling  that  at  Adulis,  apparently  Ptolemaic  Greek. 
The  town  covered  many  acres. 

Glaser  thinks  Kohaito  is  too  near  Adulis  to  be  the  ancient  Coloe; 
but  he  seems  to  overlook  the  stiff  climb  up  the  mountain,  which  would 
naturally  take  longer  in  proportion  than  the  subsequent  road  over  the 
table-land. 

The  name  Coloe,  Glaser  notes  ( Punt  und die  siidarabischen  Reic/ie, 
23)  is  the  same  as  the  Arabic  Kala’a,  (which  appears  in  the  Adulis 
inscription  of  King  Aizanas),  and  is  derived  from  the  same  source  as 
the  Caiaei  Islands  and  Calon  mountains  in  southeastern  Arabia  (in 
§§  34-5).  He  derives  the  Alalaei  Islands  in  this  § 4 from  the  same 
tribal  name,  Kalhat,  via  Halahila. 

4.  Ivory. — In  the  inscriptions  of  Harkhuf,  an  Assuan  noble 
under  King  Mernere  of  the  Vlth  Dynasty  (B.  C.  2600)  occurs  the 
first  definite  record  of  ivory  as  a commercial  article  in  Egypt. 

“I  descended  (from  the  country  of  Yam,  southern  Nubia)  with 
300  asses  laden  with  incense,  ebony,  grain,  panthers,  ivory,  throw- 
sticks,  and  every  good  product.  I was  more  vigilant  than  any 
caravan-conductor  who  had  been  sent  to  Yam  before.”  (Breasted; 
Ancient  Records  of  Egypt,  I,  336. ) 

There  are  numerous  records  of  the  receipt  of  ivory,  in  commerce 
and  as  tribute,  under  the  XVIIIth  Dynasty;  coming  from  Tehenu 
(Libya,  but  cf.  the  Tenessis  of  Strabo);  Punt  (Somaliland),  God’s 
Land  (S.  W.  Arabia),  Gnbti  (vicinity  of  Kuria  Muria  Islands),  Cush 
(Nubia),  the  South  Countries,  Retenu  (Syria)  and  Isy  (Cyprus). 
Also  articles  made  of  ivory:  chairs,  tables,  chests,  statues,  and  whips. 

Similar  records  occur  under  the  XIXth  and  XXth  dynasties;  the 
latter,  in  the  Papyrus  Harris,  being  an  item  in  a list  of  gifts  of  Ra- 
meses  III  to  the  god  Ptah. 

King  Solomon’s  throne  was  of  ivory,  overlaid  with  gold;  and 
his  ‘ ‘navy  of  Tharshish”  brought  him  the  ivory  every  three  years, 
together  with  gold  and  silver,  apes  and  peacocks  (I  Kings  X,  18-22). 

4.  Cyeneum  is  the  modern  Sennaar — Eastern  Sudan. 

4.  City  of  the  people  called  Auxumites.— This  is  the 
first  known  reference  to  the  city  of  Axum,  and  serves  very  nearly  to 
fix  the  date  of  its  foundation.  Pliny  and  other  writers  of  this  period 
mention  the  Asachae  living  south  of  Meroe  and  known  as  elephant- 


62 


hunters;  and  their  stronghold,  Oppidum  Saca , probably  the  same 
settlement  as  Axum.  Bion  speaks  of  Asachae  five  days  from  the  sea, 
and  Ptolemy  locates  a ‘‘city  of  the  Sacae’’  in  the  Tigre  highlands,  but 
has  no  knowledge  of  Axum.  Pliny  (VI,  34)  also  speaks  of  the  Ascitae 
who  brought  myrrh  and  frankincense  to  South  Arabia  on  their  rafts 
supported  on  inflated  skins,  and  suggests  a derivation  of  the  name  from 
askos,  bladder;  but  both  names  reproduce  rather  the  mountainous 
coast  of  South  Arabia,  east  of  Hadramaut,  called  Hasik  (Asich  in 
§ 33  of  the  Periplus),  and  there  is  evidently  an  ethnic  and  geographic 
connection  between  Hasik,  the  Asachae  or  Ascitae,  and  Axum. 

Axum,  the  ancient  capital  and  sacred  city  of  the  kingdom  we  call 
Abyssinia,  is  still  the  place  of  coronation  for  its  kings.  Abyssinia  is 
the  Latinized  form  of  Habash,  while  its  people  call  themselves  Itio- 
pyavan,  Hellenized  into  Aethiopians.  Habash  is  translated  by  modern 
Arabs  as  “mixture,”  while  Herodotus  explained  Aethiopia  as  “land 
of  the  sunburned  faces;”  each  explanation  being,  probably,  incorrect. 
The  Habashat  appear  likewise  along  the  eastern  terraces  of  South 
Arabia  (Mahra)  where  they  were  the  dominant  race  for  several  cen- 
turies before  the  Christian  era.  Pausanias  {.de  Situ  Gracia,  VI,  26-9), 
speaks  of  a ‘ ‘deep  bay  of  the  Erythraean  Sea,  having  islands,  Abasa 
and  Sacaea”  (probably  Kuria  Muria,  Masira,  and  Socotra)  ; the  Roman 
writers  mention  an  Abissa  Polis  in  this  region,  and  Stephanus  of  By- 
zantium says  “beyond  the  Sabaeans  are  the  Chatramotitae  (Hadra- 
maut) and  the  Abaseni.”  From  the  Egyptian  inscriptions  we  learn 
that  one  of  the  Punt-people  visited  in  their  trading  voyages  was  called 
Hbsti,  and  dwelt,  apparently,  not  only  in  Mahra,  but  also  in  Socotra 
and  Eastern  Somaliland. 

Glaser  derives  the  name  Habash  from  a Mahri  word,  meaning 
“gatherers.”  Synonymous  with  this  is  Aethiopian  or  Itwpyavan, 
which  he  derives  from  atybb,  “incense;”  and  it  is  significant  that  even 
in  the  time  of  the  Periplus  their  ancient  home  in  Mahra  was  still  the 
‘ ‘Frankincense  Country.  ” As  ‘gatherers  of  incense,  ’ ’ then,  we  have 
the  mission  of  the  Asachae  or  Axumites.  This  people,  like  their  prede- 
cessors from  the  same  region,  the  Cushites  who  traded  with  Babylon 
and  Thebes,  a branch  of  whom,  “intermarrying  with  the  natives” 
(Periplus,  § 16),  helped  found  the  Nubian  Kingdom,  and  like  the 
Punt  or  Poen-people  of  the  Theban  inscriptions,  left  their  settle- 
ments in  Mahra,  Socotra  and  Somaliland  (the  true  frankincense 
country)  and  migrated  westward,  settling  finally  in  the  Tigre  high- 
lands, where  for  the  first  time  they  established  an  enduring  power. 
But  their  migration  was  different  from  the  others,  in  that  it  was  due 
to  warfare  and  oppression  rather  than  trade. 


63 


In  the  3d  century  B.  C.  the  Habashat  or  “gatherers”  were 
supreme  in  their  “incense-lands,”  and  their  allies  and,  perhaps,  rela- 
tives, the  Sabaeans,  worked  with  them  in  the  spice  and  incense  trade 
to  Egypt,  then  at  the  height  of  its  power  under  the  Ptolemies.  The 
prosperity  of  the  trade  is  attested  by  Agatharchides.  7'he  Habashat 
held  Socotra  and  Cape  Guardafui,  and  much  of  the  East  African 
coast.  But  the  succeeding  Centuries  were  turbulent.  In  order  along 
the  south  Arabian  coast,  from  west  to  east,  were  the  Homerites 
(Himyar),  the  Sabaeans,  Hadramaut,  Kataban,  and  the  Habashat. 
Beyond  were  tribes  under  Persian  influence.  With  the  establishment 
of  the  Parthian,  or  Arsacid,  empire,  came  a wave  of  conquest  by  the 
Parthians  throughout  eastern  Arabia.  Almost  simultaneously  came 
the  African  campaigns  of  Ptolemy  Euergetes,  said  to  have  reached 
Mosyllum  on  the  Somali  coast  fPeriplus,  § 10).  The  two  incense- 
lands  were  hard  hit.  Then  came  the  conquest  of  Kataban  by 
Hadramaut  and  a threatening  policy  by  Himyar  against  the  Sabaeans. 
Glaser  has  edited  an  inscription  telling  of  an  alliance  of  Djadarot, 
King  of  the  Habashat,  with  three  successive  kings  of  Saba,  for  mutual 
p otection  against  Hadramaut  and  Himyar.  This  dates  from  about 
75  B.  C.  Isidorus  of  Charax  Spasini,  writing  in  the  time  of  Augustus, 
mentions  a chief  of  the  Omanites  in  the  Incense-Country,  named 
Goaisos  (cf.  the  language  of  the  Habashat,  Geez)  who  was  apparently 
of  the  same  race.  But  very  soon  afterward  the  Parthians  renewed 
their  attack  from  the  East;  Himyar  overthrew  Saba  and  demolished 
its  port,  and  Hadramaut  moved  on  Habash.  Egypt  was  in  a bad  way, 
and  the  Romans  who  were  taking  over  its  government  were  encour- 
aging a direct  sea-trade  from  India,  receiving  Indian  embassies,  and 
breaking  up  the  system  which  had  so  long  closed  the  Arabian  gulf  to 
Indian  shipping.  Despoiled  of  their  incense-terraces  in  Arabia  and  of 
their  commercial  activities  at  Guardafui,  the  Habashat  sought  a new 
home;  and  in  the  Tigre  highlands  built  their  stronghold,  the  Op- 
pinum  Saca,  which  soon  became  the  city  of  Axum.  It  lay  across 
the  natural  trade-route  from  India  to  Egypt;  from  Adulis,  the  sea- 
port, to  the  Atbara  River,  was  no  great  journey,  and  through  a fertile 
country  instead  of  the  desert  to  the  north.  Here,  then,  so  long  as 
the  “Berbers”  of  the  lowlands  could  be  dominated,  a state  could 
flourish;  and  hence  the  picture  of  its  King  Zoscales  in  § 5,  “miserly 
in  his  ways  and  always  striving  for  more.”  Eor  six  centuries  the  new 
kingdom  of  Abyssinia  kept  up  its  alliance  with  Rome  and  Constanti- 
nople against  its  ancient  enemies  the  Homerites,  and  their  allies  the 
Parthians  and  Persians.  The  kingdom  grew  apace,  and  twice  it  over- 
ran southern  Arabia;  and  not  until  the  later  Mohammedan  conquests 


64 


was  its  power  broken  and  its  people  shut  up  in  their  mountains,  there 
to  preserve,  for  hundreds  of  years  unknown  to  the  outside  world, 
their  Monophysite  Christianity. 

The  Abyssinian  Chronicles  make  Zoscales  at  the  time  of  the 
Periplus,  the  successor  of  a long  line  of  kings  at  Axum.  It  is  probable 
that  Habashat  had  frequented  the  country  for  a century  before,  as  the 
power  of  Egypt  receded,  but  as  colonists  rather  than  state-builders, 
until  driven  from  Arabia;  and  that  most  of  Zoscales’  predecessors 
were  local  chiefs  and  not  tribal  kings.  The  final  migration  Glaser 
places  not  far  from  the  Christian  era. 

The  Abyssinians  were  converted  to  Christianity  about  330  A.  D. 
Before  that  time  their  strongest  outside  influence  may  have  been 
Buddhism.  James  Fergusson  ( History  of  Architecture,  I,  142-3  ) notes 


Monoliths  at  Axum 


that  the  great  monolith  at  Axum  is  of  Indian  inspiration;  “the  idea 
Egyptian,  but  the  details  Indian.  An  Indian  nine-storied  pagoda, 
translated  in  Egyptian  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era!”  He 
notes  its  likeness  to  such  Indian  temples  as  Bodh-Gaya,  and  says  it 
represents  “that  curious  marriage  of  Indian  with  Egyptian  art  which 
we  would  expect  to  find  in  the  spot  where  the  two  people  came  in 


contact,  and  enlisted  architecture  to  symbolize  their  commercial 
union.”  Such  an  alliance  was  to  the  advantage  of  the  Hindu  traders. 
The  Homerites  stopped  their  vessels  at  Ocelis  on  the  Arabian  shore 
(Periplus,  § 25),  taking  their  cargoes  thence  to  Egypt  by  caravan; 
here  was  a new  power  that  allowed  them  to  trade  to  Avalites  and 
Adulis,  and  even  to  march  overland  and  take  their  wares  to  Egypt 
themselves.  Ujjeni  and  Bharukacha,  Axum  and  Alexandria  were  in 
close  connection  during  the  first  and  second  Christian  centuries,  and 


Temple  of  Bodh-Gaya,  India,  dating  from  early  in 
the  6th  century 

the  ooserver  of  the  early  relations  between  Buddhism  and  Christianity 
may  find  along  this  frequented  route  greater  evidence  of  mutual  influ- 
ence than  along  the  relatively  obstructed  overland  routes  through 
Parthia  to  Antioch  and  Ephesus.  By  the  third  century,  with  the 
decline  of  Rome,  the  growth  of  Antioch  and  Byzantium,  and  the  fall 
of  the  Arsacid  dynasty,  the  tendency  would  be  the  other  way. 


66 


See  Glaser:  Die  Abessinier  in  Arabien  und  Afrika,  Munich,  1895.  (A 
masterly  marshaling  of  inscriptions  in  support  of  his  thesis,  above  summarized. ) 
Punt  und  die  sudarabischen  Reiche,  Berlin,  1899;  Shizze  der  Gesc/iic/ite  und 
Geographie  Arabiens,  Berlin,  1890;  Dillmann:  Geschic/ite  des  Axumitischen  Reiches, 
in  Kon.  Preuss.  Akad.  d.  Wissenchaften,  Berlin,  1880.  For  the  interrelation 
between  Buddhism  and  early  Christianity,  and  the  historical  causes  leading  thereto, 
see  Edmunds:  Buddhist  and  Christian  Gospels  none  first  compared  from  the 
originals , Philadelphia  (4th  edition),  1908. 

4.  Alalaei  Islands. — These  preserve  the  name,  being  called 
Dahalak.  They  lie  at  the  entrance  to  Annesley  Bay. 

5.  Bay  of  the  Opsian  stone.— This  is  identified  with 
Hauakil  Bay,  north  of  Ras  Hanfilah,  14°  44'  N. , 40°  49'  E.  “Hanfilah” 
is  Amphila,  the  Antiphi/i  Portus  of  Artemidorus. 

Pliny  ( op . cit.  XXXVI,  67)  says  the  obsian  stone  (as  he  spells 
it)  of  Aethiopia  was  very  dark,  sometimes  transparent,  but  dull  to  the 
sight,  and  reflected  the  shadow  rather  than  the  image.  It  was  used  in 
his  day  for  jewelry  and  for  statues  and  votive  offerings. 

It  was  used  by  the  Emperor  Domitian  to  face  a portico,  so  that 
from  the  reflections  on  the  polished  surface  he  might  detect  any  one 
approaching  from  behind. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a volcanic  glass,  feldspar  in  a more  or  less 
pure  state,  and  the  same  as  our  obsidian. 

It  wras  found  also,  according  to  Pliny,  in  India,  at  Samnium  in 
Italy,  and  in  Portugal;  and  it  was  extensively  imitated  in  glass. 

Henry  Salt  {A  Voyage  into  Abyssinia,  pp.  190-4),  describes  his  visit 
to  the  Bay  of  the  Opsian  stone,  which  was  marked  by  a hill,  near 
which  he  ‘ ‘was  delighted  with  the  sight  of  a great  many  pieces  of  a 
black  substance,  bearing  a very  high  polish,  much  resembling  glass, 
that  lay  scattered  about  on  the  ground  at  a short  distance  from  the  sea; 
and  I collected  nearly  a hundred  specimens  of  it,  most  of  which  were 
two,  three,  or  four  inches  in  diameter.  One  of  the  natives  told  me 
that  a few  miles  farther  in  the  interior,  pieces  are  found  of  much  larger 
dimensions.  This  substance  has  been  analyzed  since  my  return  to 
England  and  found  to  be  true  obsidian.” 

5.  Coast  subject  to  Zoscales. — Col.  Henry  Yule  in  his 
Marco  Polo , II,  434,  says  “To  the  10th  century  at  least,  the  whole 
coast-country  of  the  Red  Sea,  from  near  Berbera  probably  to  Suakin, 
was  still  subject  to  Abyssinia.  At  this  time  we  hear  only  of  ‘Musal- 
man  families’  residing  in  Zeila  and  the  other  ports  and  tributary  to  the 
Christians.”  (See  also  Mas’  udi,  III,  34.) 

5.  Zoscales. — Salt  {op.  cit.  460-5)  identifies  this  name  with  Za 
Hakale,  which  appears  in  the  Abyssinian  Chronicles.  The  reign  is 
said  to  have  lasted  13  years,  and  Salt  fixes  the  dates  as  76  to  89  A.  D. 


67 


But  he  admits  (p.  460)  that  “no  great  dependence  can  be  placed” 
upon  the  Chronicles. 

The  list  begins  with  “Arwe,  the  serpent,”  who  reigned  400 
years;  Za  Beesi  Angaba,  200;  Zagdur,  100;  Zazebass  Besedo,  50; 
Zakawasya  b’Axum,l;  Za  Makeda,  50;  “in  her  4th  year  she  went 
to  Jerusalem,  and  after  her  return  reigned  25  years.”  Then  comes 
Menilek,  29;  followed  by  15  others,  91  years  2 months;  then  Za 
Baesi  Bazen,  16  years,  “and  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  Christ 
was  born.”  Then  follow  7 names,  68  years,  and  Za  Hakale,  13; 
then  15  more  names,  227  years  4 months,  and  Aizanas  (el  Abreha), 
and  Saizanas  (el  Atzbeha),  26  years  6 months,  “and  in  the  13th  year 
of  this  reign  Christianity  was  introduced,”  and  so  on. 

If  Za  Makeda  was  the  Queen  of  Sheba  who  visited  King 
Solomon  in  the  10th  century  B.  C.,  there  are  evidently  great  omis- 
sions before  Za  Baesi  Bazen,  whose  reign  is  said  to  have  begun  in  8 
B.  C.  And  Salt  was  obliged  to  move  Aizanas  and  Saizanas  from  their 
places  in  the  Chronicle,  and  to  advance  them  130  years,  in  order  to 
make  them  tally  with  their  Axum  and  Adulis  inscriptions,  and  the  cor- 
respondence known  to  have  been  carried  on  between  them  and  the  Ro- 
man Emperors  Constantine  and  Constantius.  T herefore  Za  Hakale’ s 
place  in  the  list,  in  the  absence  of  confirming  evidence,  can  hardly 
fix  the  date  of  the  Periplus,  as  proposed  by  Muller.  More  probable 
is  it  that,  like  Salt’s  Aizanas,  he  must  be  advanced  in  the  Chronicle  to 
meet  known  facts.  By  moving  him  up  three  places  in  the  line  his 
accession  is  brought  to  59  A.  D.,  a very  probable  date. 

The  Abyssinian  Chronicle  was  composed  some  time  after  the 
conversion  of  the  people  to  Christianity.  Its  earlier  portions  are, 
therefore,  mere  tradition;  and  two  versions  of  it  which  Salt  examined 
during  his  visit  to  that  country  were  found  to  differ  materially. 

The  reigns  in  the  first  Christian  century,  as  given  by  Salt,  are  as 
follows : 


Za  Baesi  Bazen, 

16  years, 

0 months 

Za  Senatu, 

26  “ 

0 

4 4 

Za  Les, 

10  “ 

0 

4 6 

Za  Masenh, 

6 “ 

0 

t c 

Za  Sutuwa, 

9 “ 

0 

4 4 

Za  Adgaba, 

10  “ 

6 

4 4 

Za  Agba, 

0 “ 

6 

4 4 

Za  Mai  is, 

6 “ 

0 

. 4 

Za  Hakale, 

13  “ 

0 

4 4 

Za  Demahe, 

10  “ 

0 

4 4 

Za  Awtet, 

2 “ 

0 

4 4 

68 


The  2,a  prefix,  recalling  the  Dja  of  Glaser’s  Arabian  inscriptions, 
gives  way  in  the  3d  century  to  a long  list  beginning  with  El. , indicating 
perhaps  a change  of  dynasty  from  the  Habash  stock  fo  the  Sabaean. 

6.  Egyptian  cloth. — This  was  linen,  made  from  flax. 

6.  Arsinoe  was  at  the  head  of  the  Heroopolite  Gulf,  corre- 
sponding to  the  modern  Suez,  but  now  some  distance  inland  owing 
to  the  recedence  of  the  Gulf.  It  was  named  for  the  favorite  wife  of 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  At  one  time  it  was  important  commercially, 
as  an  entrepot  for  the  Eastern  trade;  and  while  it  soon  lost  that  posi- 
tion, it  continued  for  centuries  to  be  a leading  industrial  center,  par- 
ticularly in  textiles. 

6.  Glass. — Pliny  (op.  cit.  XXXVI,  65)  says  that  glass-making 
originated  in  Phoenicia,  and  that  the  sand  of  the  river  Belus  was  long 
the  only  known  material  suitable  for  the  industry.  He  attributes  the 
discovery  for  the  process  to  the  wreck  of  a ship  laden  with  nitre  on 
this  shore,  and  the  accidental  subjection  of  nitre  and  sand  to  heat  as 
the  merchants  set  caldrons  on  the  beach  to  cook  their  food.  Later 
the  Phoenicians  applied  themselves  to  the  industry;  and  their  experi- 
ments led  to  the  use  of  manganese  and  other  substances,  and  to  an 
advanced  stage  of  perfection  in  the  product. 

In  Pliny’s  time  a white  sand  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Volturnus 
was  much  used  in  glass-making.  It  was  mixed  with  three  parts  of 
nitre  and  fused  into  a mass  called  hammo-nitrum ; which  was  sub- 
jected to  fusion  a second  time,  and  then  became  pure  white  glass. 
Throughout  Gaul  and  Spain  a similar  process  was  used,  and  this  was 
doubtless  the  process  used  in  Egypt,  as  mentioned  in  the  Periplus. 

The  color  was  added  in  the  second  fusion,  after  which  the  glass 
was  either  blown,  turned  or  engraved. 

6.  Murrhine. — See  the  note  to  § 49.  It  was  probably  agate 
and  carnelian  from  the  Gulf  of  Cambay;  but  was  extensively  imitated 
in  glass  by  the  Phoenicians  and  Egyptians.  The  murrhine  mentioned 
here  was  evidently  a cheap  trading  product,  probably  colored  glass. 

6.  Diospolis  (City  of  God)  was  probably  Thebes,  the  me- 
tropolis of  the  Egyptian  Empire — the  modern  Karnak.  T his  was  its 
name  under  the  Ptolemies  and  Romans.  There  was  another  Dios- 
polis in  Egypt,  mentioned  by  Strabo;  it  was  in  the  Nile  delta,  above 
the  Sebennytic  mouth;  but  it  was  not  of  great  importance.  Still 
another,  known  as  Diospolis  Parva,  was  on  the  Nile  some  distance 
below  Coptos.  The  greater  Diospolis — Diospolis  Magna — was  a 
center  of  commerce  and  industry,  being  no  great  way  above  Coptos, 
from  which  the  caravans  started  for  Berenice. 


69 


As  illustrating  the  fame  of  that  city,  Strabo  quotes  Homer  ( Iliad 
IX,  383)  “with  her  hundred  gates,  through  each  of  which  issues  two 
hundred  men  with  horses  and  chariots.”  The  prophet  Nahum  (III, 
8-10)  draws  another  picture  of  the  city  after  its  capture  by  the  Assyr- 
ians: “populous  No  (or  No-Amon,  City  of  God)  that  was  situate 
among  the  rivers,  that  had  the  waters  round  about  it  ...  . Ethiopia 
and  Egypt  were  her  strength,  and  it  was  infinite;  Put  and  Lubim 
(Cyrene  and  Libya)  were  thy  helpers.  Yet  was  she  carried  away, 
she  went  into  captivity;  her  young  children  also  were  dashed  in  pieces 
at  the  top  of  all  the  streets;  and  they  cast  lots  for  her  honourable 
men,  and  all  her  great  men  were  bound  in  chains.” 

6.  Brass. — The  Greek  word  is  oreichalcos,  “mountain-copper,” 
which  Pliny  {op.  cit.  XXXIV,  2)  makes  into  a hybrid,  as  aurichalcum, 
golden  copper;  brass,  a yellow  alloy,  as  distinguished  from  pure  copper 
or  the  darker  alloys.  Pliny  describes  it  as  an  ore  of  copper  long  in 
high  request,  but  says  none  had  been  found  for  a long  time,  the  earth 
having  been  quite  exhausted.  It  was  used  for  the  sestertium  and  double 
as,  the  Cyprian  copper  being  thought  good  enough  for  the  as. 

Oreichalch  seems  to  have  been  a native  brass  obtained  by  smelting 
ores  abundant  in  zinc;  the  Roman  metallurgy  did  not  distinguish  zinc 
as  a separate  metal. 

Mines  yielding  such  ores  were  held  in  the  highest  estimation,  and 
their  exhaustion  was  deeply  regretted,  as  in  the  case  of  the  “Corin- 
thian brass.  ’ ’ But  later  it  was  found  by  accident  that  the  native  earth, 
calamine,  an  impure  oxide  of  zinc,  added  to  molten  copper,  would 
imitate  the  true  oreichalch;  and  this  the  Romans  did  without  under- 
standing what  the  earth  was,  just  as  they  used  native  oxide  of  cobalt 
in  coloring  glass  without  knowing  the  metal  cobalt. 

(See  Pliny  XXXVII,  44,  and  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions , 
II,  32-3.) 

Philostratus  of  Lemnos,  about  230  A.  D.,  mentions  a shrine  in 
Taxila  in  which  were  hung  pictures  on  copper  tablets  representing  the 
feats  of  Alexander  and  Porus.  ‘ ‘The  various  figures  were  portrayed 
in  a mosaic  of  orichalcum,  silver,  gold,  and  oxidized  copper,  but  the 
weapons  in  iron.  The  metals  were  so  ingeniously  worked  into  one 
another  that  the  pictures  which  they  formed  were  comparable  to  the 
productions  of  the  most  famous  Greek  artists”  (McCrindle:  Ancient 
India , 192). 

The  Greek  word  is  effectively  used  by  Oscar  Wilde  in  his  poem 
The  Sphinx: 

the  God  of  the  Assyrian, 

Whose  wings,  like  strange  transparent  talc,  rose  high  above  his  hawk-faced  head,. 
Painted  with  silver  and  with  red  and  ribbed  with  rods  of  oreichalch. 


70 


6.  Sheets  of  soft  copper. — The  text  is  ‘ ‘honey-copper.  ” 
That  the  metallurgy  of  Roman  days  included  a fusion  with  honey  or 
other  organic  substances,  such  as  cow’s  blood,  to  produce  greater 
ductility,  has  been  asserted,  but  not  proven.  Muller  makes  a more 
plausible  suggestion,  that  this  was  ductile  copper  in  thin  sheets,  and 
was  called  “honey-copper”  because  the  sheets  were  shaped  like 
honey-cakes.  Ductile  copper  in  Roman  times  generally  meant  an 
alloy  with  5 to  10  per  cent  of  lead. 

6.  Iron. — Pliny  ( op . cit.  XXXIV,  39-46)  speaks  of  iron  as  “the 
most  useful  and  most  fatal  instrument  in  the  hand  of  man.”  The  ore, 
he  says,  is  found  almost  everywhere;  “even  in  the  Isle  of  Elba.”  It 
is  worked  like  copper,  and  its  quality  depends  somewhat  on  the  water 
into  which  the  red-hot  metal  is  plunged.  Bilbilis  and  Turiasso  in 
Spain,  and  Comum  in  Italy,  are  distinguished  for  the  use  of  their 
waters  in  smelting.  The  best  iron  is  that  made  by  the  Seres,  “who 
send  it  to  us  with  their  tissues  and  skins.”  Next  to  this  in  quality 
is  the  Parthian  iron.  In  all  other  kinds  the  metal  is  alloyed,  that  is, 
apparently,  the  ore  is  impure. 

• 6.  Coats  of  skin.  The  text  is  kaunakai. — Originally  these 
were  of  rough  skins  with  the  hair  left  on;  later  they  were  imitated  in 
Mesopotamia  by  a heavy  woolen  fabric,  suggesting  the  modern  frieze 
overcoat,  which  was  largely  exported.  It  is  not  known  which  is 
meant  here. 

6.  Ariaca. — This  is  the  northwest  coast  of  India,  especially 
around  the  Gulf  of  Cambay;  the  modern  Cutch,  Kathiawar  and 
Gujarat.  As  the  name  indicates,  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus 
one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  Indo-Aryan  races,  and  incidentally  of 
Buddhism,  the  religion  then  dominant  among  them. 

6.  Indian  iron  and  steel. — Marco  Polo  (Yule  ed.  I,  93) 
Book  I,  chap.  XVII,  mentions  iron  and  ondanique  in  the  markets  of 
Kerman.  Yule  interprets  this  as  the  andanic  of  Persian  merchants 
visiting  Venice,  an  especially  fine  steel  for  swords  and  mirrors,  and 
derives  it  from  hundwamy  “Indian”  steel. 

Kenrick  suggests  that  the  “bright  iron”  of  Ezekiel  XXVII,  19, 
must  have  been  the  same. 

Ctesias  mentions  two  wonderful  swords  of  such  material  which 
he  had  from  the  King  of  Persia. 

Probably  this  was  also  the  ferrum  candidum  of  which  the  Malli 
and  Oxydracae  sent  100  talents’  weight  as  a present  to  Alexander. 

Ferrum  indicum  also  appears  in  the  lists  of  dutiable  articles  under 
Marcus  Aurelius  and  Commodus. 


71 


Salmasius  notes  a Greek  chemical  treatise  “On  the  tempering 
of  Indian  steel.” 

Edrisi  says  “The  Hindus  excel  in  the  manufacture  of  iron. 
They  have  also  workshops  wherein  are  forged  the  most  famous  sabres 
in  the  world.  It  is  impossible  to  find  anything  to  surpass  the  edge 
that  you  get  from  Indian  steel.’’ 

6.  Cotton  • — Sanscrit,  karpasa ; Hebrew,  carpas;  Greek,  kar- 
pasos;  Latin,  carbasus — the  seed-fibers  of  Gossypium  herbaceum  and  G. 
arboreum  (order,  Malvaceae)  native  in  India,  and  woven  into  cloth  by 
the  natives  of  that  country  before  the  dawn  of  history.  The  facts 
concerning  it  have  been  admirably  stated  by  Mr.  R.  B.  Handy  in  The 
Cotton  Plant,  a report  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  issued 
in  1896.  Cotton  thread  and  cloth  are  repeatedly  mentioned  in  the 
laws  of  Manu,  800  B.  C.  Professor  A.  H.  Sayce  in  his  Hibbert 
Lectures  shows  ground  for  the  belief  that  it  was  exported  by  sea  to  the 
head  of  the  Persian  Gulf  in  the  4th  millennium  B.  C. ; and  it  found 
its  w'ay  very  early  to  Egypt.  Herodotus  describes  it  as  a wool,  better 
than  that  of  sheep,  the  fruit  of  trees  growing  wild  in  India. 

The  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth  was  at  its  best  in  India  until 
very  recent  times,  and  the  fine  Indian  muslins  were  in  great  demand 
and  commanded  high  prices,  both  in  the  Roman  Empire  and  in 
Mediaeval  Europe.  The  industry  was  one  of  the  main  factors  in  the 
wealth  of  ancient  India,  and  the  transfer  of  that  industry  to  England 
and  the  United  States,  and  the  cheapening  of  the  process  by  mechani- 
cal ginning,  spinning  and  weaving,  is  perhaps  the  greatest  single  factor 
in  the  economic  history  of  our  own  time. 

Pliny  and  Pollux  state  that  cotton  was  grown  in  Egypt  in  their 
time  (1st  and  2nd  centuries  A.  D.),  how  extensively  is  unknown. 
It  was  also  grown  in  the  island  of  Tylos  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
according  to  Theophrastus,  in  Arabia;  and  the  Periplus  confirms  this 
by  mentioning  it  as  an  article  of  export  from  Ommana. 

Cotton  seems  also  to  have  been  grown  in  Syria,  Cilicia  and 
Palestine;  and  the  fiber  known  to  Josephus  as  chedbn,  Hebrew,  ketonct ; 
Arabic,  kut  n,  (the  same  sound  appears  in  Phoenician,  Syrian  and 
Chaldee),  was  perhaps  cotton.  Movers  states  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Palestine  before  the  Hebrew  migration  made  use  of  cotton,  and  that 
the  Phoenicians  exported  Syrian  cotton  cloth  to  Sabaea. 

Pausanias  describes  cotton  as  growing  in  Elis,  in  Achaea,  and 
says  that  it  was  made  into  cloth  by  the  women  of  Patrae;  but  this 
could  not  have  been  an  extensive  industry.  It  was  quite  certainly  not 
produced  or  woven  in  Italy  during  Roman  days. 

Any  generalizations  based  on  the  Arabic  kut’n  or  the  Greek 


72 


karpasos  are  uncertain,  because  those  words  were  applied  also  to  Hax, 
which  was  in  very  general  use  in  all  the  Mediterranean  countries. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  word  used  in  the  Periplus  is  uniformly 
othonion,  meaning  simply  “cloth,”  but  usually  cotton  cloth;  while  the 
t himatismos , translated  as  “clothing,”  was  very  likely  cloth  in  suitable 
lengths  to  be  worn  as  tobe  or  toga. 

6.  Monache  cloth. — Vincent  says  cloth  “singularly  fine,”  and 
for  sagmatogene  would  read  “the  sort  used  for  stuffing”  (from  sasso, 
to  stuff;  sagma,  a saddle)  being  the  down  from  the  tree-cotton,  Gossyp- 
ium arboreurn.  But  these  words  may  be  Greek  corruptions  of  some 
Indian  trade-names  for  different  grades  or  dyes  of  cloth,  as  to  the 
particulars  of  which  we  cannot  determine. 

Fabricius  alters  monache  to  molochine  because  of  the  occurrence 
of  the  same  word  in  the  following  line,  and  makes  a similar  alteration 
wherever  the  word  appears  in  the  text,  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  just 
what  is  gained. 

This  “broad  cloth’  was  no  doubt  used  for  garments  such  as 
the  modern  Somali  “tobe,”  described  by  Burton  ( First  Footsteps , p. 
29)  : “ It  is  a cotton  sheet  eight  cubits  long,  and  two  breadths  sewn 

together.  It  is  worn  in  many  ways;  sometimes  the  right  arm  is 
bared;  in  cold  weather  the  whole  person  is  muffled  up,  and  in  sum- 
mer it  is  allowed  to  fall  below  the  waist.  Generally  it  is  passed  behind 
the  back,  rests  upon  the  left  shoulder,  is  carried  forward  over  the 
breast,  surrounds  the  body,  and  ends  hanging  on  the  left  shoulder, 
where  it  displays  a gaudy  silk  fringe  of  red  and  yellow.  This  is  the 
man’s  Tobe.  The  woman’s  dress  is  of  similar  material,  but  differ- 
ently worn;  the  edges  are  knotted  generally  over  the  right,  sometimes 
over  the  left  shoulder;  it  is  girdled  round  the  waist,  below  which 
hangs  a lappet,  which  in  cold  weather  can  be  brought  like  a hood 
over  the  head.  Though  highly  becoming  and  picturesque  as  the 
Roman  toga,  the  Somali  Tobe  is  by  no  means  the  most  decorous  of 
dresses;  women  in  the  towns  often  prefer  the  Arab  costume — a short- 
sleeved  robe  extending  to  the  knee,  and  a Futah  or  loin-cloth  under- 
neath.” 

McCrindle,  Ancient  India,  p.  26,  notes  that  India  has  two  dis- 
tinct species  of  cotton,  Gossypium  herbaceum,  and  Gossypium  arboreurn  or 
tree-cotton.  The  former  only  is  made  into  cloth,  while  the  latter 
yields  a soft  and  silky  texture,  which  is  used  for  padding  cushions, 
pillows,  etc.  Pliny  says  (XIX,  1)  that  Upper  Egypt  also  produces 
“a  shrub  bearing  a nut  from  the  inside  of  which  wool  is  got,  white 
and  soft.” 


73 


6.  Molochine,  or  mallow  cloth,  was  a coarse  cotton  cloth 
dyed  with  a preparation  of  a variety  of  the  hibiscus  native  in  India. 
This  purplish  cloth  must  have  corresponded  closely  to  the  coarse  blue 
drills  still  in  demand  on  this  coast. 

6.  Lac. — McCrindle  notes  that  the  Sanscrit  is  laksha,  a later 
form  of  raksha,  connected  with  the  root  ranj,  to  dye.  The  Prakrit 
form  is  lakkha.  It  was  used  by  women  for  dyeing  the  nails  and  feet, 
also  as  a dye  for  cloth. 

The  lac  insect  ( Tachard'ta  Lacca,  Kerr)  is  native  in  India  and 
still  practically  confined  to  that  country. 

According  to  Watt  ( Commercial  Products  of  India , pp.  1053  ff.  ), 
it  yields  two  distinct  products:  a dye  and  a resin.  The  dye  competed 
on  favorable  terms  with  the  Mexican  cochineal  until  both  were  dis- 
placed by  manufactured  aniline,  when  the  resin  shellac  again  became 
more  important. 

The  resin  is  formed  around  the  young  swarms  as  they  adhere  to 
the  trees;  the  lac  being  a minute  hemipterous  insect  living  on  the 
plant-juices  sucked  up  by  a proboscis. 

The  dye  is  taken  from  the  bodies  of  the  females,  which  assume 
a bright  red  color  during  the  process  of  reproduction.  For  a com- 
plete account  of  the  product  and  its  uses  see  Watt. 

Of  somewhat  similar  nature  to  lac  was  the  “kermes-berry”  pro- 
duced on  the  Mediterranean  holm-oak;  whence  the  dye  known  as 
carmesin,  cramoisi,  crimson  or  carmine;  or,  by  another  derivation, 
scarlet;  or,  referring  to  the  pupa-stage  of  the  insect,  vermiculum  or 
vermilion. 

These  insect  dyes  were  used  separately,  or,  associated  with  murex, 
as  an  element  in  the  so-called  “Tyrian  purple.” 

6.  Tortoise-shell. — This  was  a great  article  of  commerce  in 
the  Roman  world,  being  used  for  small  receptacles,  ornaments,  and 
for  inlaying  furniture  and  woodwork.  It  is  one  of  the  most  fre- 
quently-mentioned commodities  in  the  Periplus.  The  antiquity  of 
the  trade  is  uncertain,  but  this  seems  to  be  the  “shell”  brought  from 
the  Land  of  Punt  by  Queen  Hatshepsut’s  expedition  in  the  15th  cen- 
tury B.  C. 

6.  Rhinoceros. — The  horns  and  the  teeth,  and  probably  the 
skin,  were  exported  from  the  coast  of  Abyssinia,  where  Bruce  found  the 
hunting  of  this  animal  still  a trade  and  described  it  ( Travels , Vol.  IV). 

7.  Avalites  is  identified  with  the  modern  Zeila,  11°  20'  N. , 
43°  28'  E.  It  is  79  miles  from  the  straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb.  The 
ancient  name  is  preserved  by  the  village  Abalit,  on  the  north  shore  of 


74 


the  bay.  The  Somali  tribes  call  the  place  Ausal,  apparently  perpetu- 
ating the  Ausan  of  the  South  Arabian  coast;  which  also  at  one  time 
possessed  much  of  the  coast  of  East  Africa  (called  the  “Ausanitic 
coast”  in  § 15  of  the  Periplus).  Avalites  is  thought  by  Forster  ( His- 
torical Geography  of  Arabia , Vol.  I)  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  Obal, 
son  of  Joktan  ( Gen.  IV)  whose  name  is  almost  unknown  in  Arabia; 
thus  indicating  a very  early  migration  of  this  tribe  to  the  Somali  coast. 
This  name  seems  also  to  survive  in  Obollah  at  the  Euphrates  mouth  on 
the  Persian  Gulf;  which  was  the  Ubulu  of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions, 
and  the  Apologus  of  § 35. 

Of  Zeila,  Ibn  Batuta,  writing  in  the  14th  century,  said:  “I  then 
went  from  Aden  by  sea,  and  after  four  days  came  to  the  city  of  Zeila. 
This  is  a settlement  of  the  Berbers,  a people  of  Sudan,  of  the  Shafia 
sect.  Their  country  is  a desert  of  two  months’  extent;  the  first  part 
is  termed  Zeila,  the  last  Makdashu.  The  greatest  number  of  the  in- 
habitants, however,  are  of  the  Rafizah  sect.  Their  food  is  mostly 
camel’s  flesh  and  fish.  The  stench  of  the  country  is  extreme,  as  is 
also  its  filth,  from  the  stink  of  the  fish  and  the  blood  of  the  camels 
which  are  slaughtered  in  its  streets.” 

Zeila  is  described  by  Burton  ( First  Footsteps  in  East  Africa,  p.  14) 
as  “the  normal  African  port — a strip  of  sulphur-yellow  sand,  with  a 
deep  blue  dome  above,  and  a foreground  of  the  darkest  indigo.  The 
buildings,  raised  by  refraction,  rise  high,  and  apparently  from  the 
bosom  of  the  deep.  . . . No  craft  larger  than  a canoe  can  ride  near 
Zeila.  After  bumping  once  or  twice  against  the  coral  reefs,  it  was 
considered  advisable  for  our  ship  to  anchor.  My  companions  put  me 
into  a cockboat,  and  wading  through  the  water,  shoved  it  to  shore. 
The  situation  is  a low  and  level  spit  of  sand,  which  high  tides 
make  almost  an  island.  There  is  no  harbor;  a vessel  of  250  tons 
cannot  approach  within  a mile  of  the  landing-place;  the  open  road- 
stead is  exposed  to  the  terrible  north  wind,  and  when  gales  blow  from 
the  west  and  south  it  is  almost  unapproachable.  Every  ebb  leaves  a 
sandy  flat,  extending  half  a mile  seaward  from  the  town;  the  reefy 
anchorage  is  difficult  of  entrance  after  sunset,  and  the  coraline  bottom 
renders  wading  painful.” 

Zeila,  the  nearest  port  to  Harrar  in  the  interior,  had,  when  Bur- 
ton wrote,  lost  the  caravan  trade  to  Berbera,  owing  to  the  feuds  of 
its  rulers;  so  that  the  characteristics  of  its  people  had  not  changed 
from  the  account  given  in  § 7 of  the  Periplus. 

At  that  time  the  exports  from  Zeila  were  slaves,  ivory,  hides, 
honey,  antelope  horns,  clarified  butter,  and  gums.  The  coast  abounded 
in  sponge,  coral,  and  small  pearls.  In  the  harbor  were  about  twenty 


75 


native  craft,  large  and  small;  they  traded  with  Berbera,  Arabia,  and 
Western  India,  and  were  navigated  by  “Rajput”  or  Hindu  pilots. 

Burton  ( op . cit.,  pp.  330-1)  says  again: 

“I  repeatedly  heard  at  Zeila  and  at  Harrar  that  traders  had  visited 
the  far  West,  traversing  for  seven  months  a country  of  pagans  wear- 
ing golden  bracelets,  till  they  reached  the  Salt  Sea  upon  which  Franks 
sail  in  ships.  I once  saw  a traveler  descending  the  Nile  with  a store 
of  nuggets,  bracelets  and  gold  rings  similar  to  those  used  as  money 
by  the  ancient  Egyptians.  Mr.  Krapf  relates  a tale  current  in  Abys- 
sinia, namely:  that  there  is  a remnant  of  the  slave  trade  between 
Guineh  (the  Guinea  coast)  and  Shoa.  Connection  between  the  east 
and  west  formerly  existed;  in  the  time  of  Joao  I,  the  Portuguese 
on  the  river  Zaire  in  Congo  learned  the  existence  of  the  Abyssinian 
church.  Travelers  in  Western  Africa  assert  that  Fakihs  or  priests, 
when  performing  the  pilgrimage,  pass  from  the  Fellatah  country 
through  Abyssinia  to  the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea.  And  it  has  lately  been 
proved  that  a caravan  line  is  open  from  the  Zanzibar  coast  to  Benguela.  ’ ’ 

The  foregoing,  written  before  modern  discovery  had  altered  the 
trade  of  Africa,  indicates  the  same  condition  as  that  existing  in  ancient 
history:  a well-established  trade  to  Egypt  and  South  Arabia,  coming 
from  tribe  to  tribe  through  the  heart  of  Africa,  from  great  distances 
West  and  South. 

7.  The  “Far-side”  coast  . — According  to  Burton  (op.  cit.  p. 
12)  the  Somali  tribes  called  their  country  the  Barr  el  Ajarn,  which  he 
translates  as  “barbarian  land,  ” but  goes  on  to  explain  that  A jam  means 
all  nations  not  Arab,  just  as  among  Egyptians  and  Greeks  ‘ ‘bar- 
barian” meant  all  nations  not  of  their  country. 

The  name  seems  to  apply  to  the  migration  and  trade  from  South 
Arabia,  the  tribes  who  had  crossed  the  gulf  at  Aden  at  various  periods 
of  history  being  referred  to  by  their  countrymen  as  those  “of  the 
farther  side,”  which  our  author  has  rendered  into  Greek  as pcratikos 
( pera , beyond). 

7.  Juice  of  sour  grapes. — The  text  is  omphakion.  Pliny 
says  (XII,  60):  “Omphacium  is  a kind  of  oil  obtained  from  the 
olive  and  the  vine — the  former  is  produced  by  pressing  the  olive  while 
still  white;  the  latter  from  the  Aminaean  grape,  when  the  size  of  a 
chick-pea,  just  before  the  rising  of  the  Dog-star.  The  verjuice  is 
put  into  earthen  vessels,  and  then  stored  in  vessels  of  Cyprian  copper. 
The  best  is  reddish,  acrid,  and  dry  to  the  taste.  Also  the  unripe  grape 
is  pounded  in  a mortar,  dried  in  the  sun,  and  then  divided  into 
lozenges.” 

The  Aminaean  grape  he  describes  in  XIV,  4:  also  a lanata  or 


76 


woolly  grape — “so  that  we  not  be  surprised  at  the  wool-bearing  trees 
of  the  Seres  or  the  Indians.”  These  latter  were  cotton;  the  former 
were  mulberry  trees  with  silkworm  cocoons  bred  on  them.  cf.  Virgil, 

(Georgies,  II,  121.) 

“ Velleraque  ut  foliis  depectant  tenuia  Seres.” 

Pliny  (XXIII,  4)  says  again:  “Omphacium  heals  ulcerations  of 
the  humid  parts  of  the  body,  such  as  the  mouth,  tonsillary  glands,  etc. 
The  powerful  action  of  omphacium  is  modified  by  the  admixture 
of  honey  or  raisin  wine.  It  is  very  useful,  too,  for  dysentery,  spitting 
of  blood,  and  quinsy.” 

And  in  XXIII,  39:  “The  most  useful  of  all  kinds  of  oil  (other 
than  olive)  is  omphacium.  It  is  good  for  the  gums,  and  if  kept  from 
time  to  time  in  the  mouth,  there  is  nothing  better  as  a preservative 
of  the  whiteness  of  the  teeth.  It  checks  profuse  perspiration.  ” 

7.  Wheat  . — Triticum  vulgare,  Villars,  order  Graminece.  The 
cultivation  of  wheat,  says  De  Candolle,  is  prehistoric.  It  is  older 
than  the  most  ancient  languages,  each  of  which  has  independent  and 
definite  names  for  the  grain.  The  Chinese  grew  it  2700  B.  C.  It 
was  grown  by  the  Swiss  lake-dwellers  about  1500  B.  C.,  and  has  been 
found  in  a brick  of  one  of  the  Egyptian  pyramids  dating  from  about 
3350  B.  C. 

Originally  it  was  doubtless  a wild  grass  which  under  cultivation 
assumed  varying  forms.  In  the  early  Roman  Empire  vast  quantities 
of  wheat  were  raised  in  Sicily,  Gaul,  North  Africa,  and  particularly 
Egypt,  for  shipment  to  Rome.  Later  a great  wheat  area  was  opened 
up  in  what  is  now  Southern  Russia,  which  finally  supplanted  Egypt 
in  the  markets  of  Constantinople,  after  Alexandria  and  Antioch  fell 
into  Saracen  hands.  The  trade  in  wheat  as  described  in  the  Periplus 
is  interesting.  It  shows  that  South  Arabia,  Socotra  and  East  Africa 
had  wheat  not  only  from  Egypt  but  also  from  India,  which  has  not 
usually  been  considered  as  a wheat  country  at  that  time.  Watt 
(op.  cit.  p.  1082)  thinks  wild  rice  (Oryza  coarctata ) may  have  been 
intended,  but  the  Periplus  distinguishes  between  wheat  and  rice  as 
coming  from  India.  The  Hindus  might  certainly  have  had  the  seed 
from  Egypt  and  cultivated  it,  but  Watt  notes  the  complete  absence, 
so  far  as  known,  of  wild  wheat  in  modern  India. 

7.  Wine. — The  fermented  juice  of  Vitis  vinifera,  Linn.,  order 
Vitacea.  The  culture  of  the  vine  seems  to  have  begun  in  Asia  Minor 
and  Syria,  but  within  the  period  of  written  history  it  is  almost  uni- 
versal. It  introduction  was  ascribed  to  the  gods:  by  the  Greeks  to 
Dionysos,  the  Romans  to  Bacchus,  the  Egyptians  to  Osiris;  or  in 
the  case  of  the  Hebrews,  to  the  patriarch  Noah.  The  vine  and  the 


77 


olive,  requiring  continued  cultivation  from  year  to  year,  almost  dis- 
tinguish settled  civilization  from  nomadic  conditions,  and  the  product 
of  both  industries  appears  in  commerce  from  the  earliest  times. 

The  wine  of  the  Damacus  valley  was  an  important  export  in  the 
time  of  Ezekiel  (XXVII,  18);  of  the  Greek  wines  the  best  were 
from  the  Aegean  islands  and  the  Asiatic  coast  near  Ephesus  (Strabo, 
XIV,  1,  15).  The  Phoenicians  carried  the  vine  to  Spain,  and  the 
Greeks  to  southern  Gaul.  It  was  unknown  in  early  Italy,  but  was 
fostered  by  the  Roman  republic,  which  restricted  imports  of  foreign 
growths,  and  stimulated  exports  by  restricting  viticulture  in  the  prov- 
inces. In  the  valleys  of  the  Seine  and  Moselle  wine  was  not 
produced  until  the  later  days  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

At  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  the  popular  taste  demanded  a wine 
highly  flavored  with  extraneous  substances,  such  as  myrrh  and  other 
gums,  cinnamon  and  salt. 

The  Periplus  tells  us  that  Italian  and  Laodicean  wines  were  im- 
ported into  Abyssinia,  the  Somali  Coast,  East  Africa,  South  Arabia, 
and  India.  Arabian  wine  was  also  carried  to  India;  this  may  have 
included  grape-wine  from  Yemen  (§  24  ) but  was  principally  date- 
wine  from  the  Persian  Gulf  (§36).  Italian  wine  was  preferred  to 
all  others  (§  49).  This  was  from  the  plain  of  Campania,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  modern  Naples,  whence  Strabo  tells  us  (V,  VI,  13), 
“the  Romans  procured  their  finest  wines,  the  Falernian,  the  Statanian, 
and  the  Calenian.  That  of  Surrentum  is  now  esteemed  equal  to 
these,  it  having  been  lately  discovered  that  it  can  be  kept  to  ripen.” 
Petronius  ( Cena  Trimalchionis ) mentions  a Falernian  wine  which  had 
been  ripened  100  years. 

The  Laodicean  wine  was  from  Laodicea  on  the  Syrian  coast, 
some  60  miles  south  of  Antioch,  the  modern  Latakia.  Strabo  (XVI, 
II,  9)  says:  “it  is  a very  well-built  city,  with  a good  harbor;  the  ter- 
ritory, besides  its  fertility  in  other  respects,  abounds  with  wine,  of 
which  the  greater  part  is  exported  to  Alexandria.  The  whole  moun- 
tain overhanging  the  city  is  planted  almost  to  its  summit  with  vines.” 

7.  Tin.  Hebrew,  bedil ; Greek,  kassiteros;  Sanscrit,  kasthira; 
Latin,  stannum.  This  metal,  the  product  of  Galicia  and  Cornwall, 
was  utilized  industrially  at  a comparatively  late  period,  having  been 
introduced  after  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  lead,  and  mercury.  It 
made  its  appearance  in  the  Mediterranean  world  soon  after  the  migra- 
tion of  the  Phoenicians  to  Syria.  The  Phoenician  traders  may  have 
found  it  first  on  the  Black  Sea  coast,  coming  overland  from  tribe  to 
tribe;  very  soon  they  discovered  the  Spanish  tin  and  traced  it  to  its 
source,  and  finally  that  of  Cornwall.  The  value  of  tin  in  hardening 


78 


copper  was  soon  understood,  and  the  trade  was  monopolized  for  cen- 
turies by  the  Phoenicians  and  their  descendants,  the  Carthaginians. 
How  carefully  they  guarded  the  secret  of  its  production  appears  in 
Strabo’s  story  (III,  V,  11)  of  the  Phoenician  captain  who,  finding 
himself  followed  by  a Roman  vessel  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Spain, 
ran  his  ship  ashore  rather  than  divulge  his  destination,  and  collected 
the  damage  from  his  government  on  returning  home. 

There  is  much  confusion  in  the  early  references  to  this  metal, 
because  the  Hebrew  bedil  (meaning  “the  departed”)  was  also  applied 
to  the  metallic  residue  from  silver-smelting — a mixture  of  silver,  lead, 
and  occasionally  copper  and  mercury.  The  same  comparison  applies 
to  kassiteros  and  stannum.  Pliny,  for  example,  distinguishes  plumbum 
nigrum , lead,  and  plumbum  candidum , stannum.  Without  any  definite 
basis  for  determining  metals,  appearance  was  often  the  only  guide. 

Suetonius  ( Vitell.  VI,  192)  says  that  the  Emperor  Vitellius  took 
away  all  the  gold  and  silver  from  the  temples,  (69  A.  D.)  and  sub- 
stituted aurichalcum  and  stannum.  This  stannum  could  not  have  been 
pure  tin,  but  rather  an  alloy  of  lead,  like  pewter. 

The  letters  from  the  King  of  Alashia  (Cyprus),  in  the  Tell-el- 
Amarna  tablets,  indicate  the  possibility  of  the  use  of  tin  there  in  the 
I 5th  century  B.  C.,  and  of  the  shipment  of  the  resultant  bronze  to 
Egypt;  and  tin,  as  a separate  metal,  is  thrice  mentioned  in  the  Papyrus 
Harris,  under  Raineses  III  (1198-1167  B.  C.).  Phis  confirms  the 
mention  of  tin  in  Numbers  XXXI,  22.  By  the  time  of  Ezekiel 
(XXVII,  12)  it  was,  of  course,  well  known  ; here  it  appears  with  silver, 
iron,  and  lead,  as  coming  from  Spain.  The  stela  of  Tanutamon  de- 
scribes a hall  for  the  god  Amon,  build  by  the  Pharaoh  Taharka  at 
Napata  (688-663  B.  C.),  of  stone  ornamented  with  gold,  with  a tablet 
of  cedar  incensed  with  myrrh  of  Punt,  and  double  doors  of  electrum 
with  bolts  of  tin.  (Breasted,  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt,  Vol.  IV). 

By  the  Greeks  the  true  tin  was  understood  and  extensively  used, 
and  the  establishment  of  their  colony  of  Massilia  was  largely  due  to  the 
discovery  of  the  British  metal  coming  overland  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Rhone.  The  Romans  ultimately  conquered  both  Galicia  and  Corn- 
wall, and  then  controlled  the  trade;  but  to  judge  from  Pliny’s  ac- 
count, their  understanding  of  it  was  vague. 

According  to  the  Periplus,  tin  was  shipped  from  Egypt  to  both 
Somaliland  and  India. 

Lassen  ( Indische  Alterthumskunde,  I,  249)  and  Oppert,  arguing 
from  the  similarity  between  the  Sanscrit  kasthira  and  the  Greek  kassi- 
teros, would  transfer  the  earliest  tin  trade  to  India  and  Malacca;  but 
it  seems  probable  that  the  Sanscrit  word  was  a late  addition  to  the 


79 


language,  borrowed  from  the  Greek  with  the  metal  itself;  which,  as 
stated  by  the  Periplus  in  §§  49  and  56,  came  to  India  from  the  west. 

See  also  Movers,  Ph'imrzier , Vol.  Ill;  Beckmann,  op.  at.,  II, 
206-230. 


8.  Malao  is  the  modern  Berbera,  10°  25"  N. , 45°  5 L.  It  is 
now  the  leading  port  of  this  coast,  the  capital  of  British  Somaliland, 
and  the  center  of  the  caravan  trade  to  the  interior.  Glaser  (Skizze, 


From  Burton:  First  Footsteps  in  East  Africa. 


80 


p.  196)  would  identify  it  with  Bulhar,  about  30  miles  farther  west; 
but  the  description  of  the  ‘sheltering  spit  running  out  from  the  east” 
in  § 8,  places  it  beyond  doubt  at  Berbera,  which  has  just  such  a spit, 
while  Bulhar  is  on  the  open  beach. 

Burton  (op.  cit.,  pp.  407-418)  gives  a detailed  description  of 
the  town  and  harbor,  of  the  stream  of  sweet  water  flowing  into 
it,  and  of  the  interior  trade  and  the  great  periodical  fair,  frequented 
by  caravans  from  the  interior  and  by  sailing  vessels  from  Yemen,  the 
South  Arabian  coast,  Muscat,  Bahrein  and  Bassora,  and  beyond  as  far 
as  Bombay;  the  same  trade  as  chat  described  in  § 14. 

8.  “Far-side”  frankincense. — Concerning  frankincense  in 
general,  see  under  §§  29-32.  Somali  frankincense  figures  in  the  trade 
of  Egypt  at  the  time  of  the  Punt  expeditions,  and  probably  much 
earlier.  It  was  different  from,  and  often  superior  to,  the  Arabian. 
It  is,  indeed,  possible  that  the  true  frankincense  ( Boswellia  neglecta) 
was  native  here,  and  that  the  Arabian  varieties  (Boswellia  serrata,  etc.) 
were  a later  cultivation.  Yet  Fabricius  ( p.  124)  in  curious  disregard 
of  the  text,  thinks  the  Malao  frankincense  was  imported  from  Arabia! 

8.  Duaca  is  identified  by  Glaser  (Skizze,  197)  with  duakh,  which 
appears  in  several  Arabic  inscriptions  as  a variety  of  frankincense; 
duka,  he  says,  is  a trade-name  in  modern  Aden  for  a certain  quality 
of  frankincense. 

Burton  (op.  cit.,  p.  416)  describes  the  range  of  mountains  run- 
ning parallel  with  this  coast,  some  30  miles  inland  from  Berbera, 
“4000  to  6000  feet,  thickly  covered  with  gum-arabic  and  frankincense 
trees,  the  wild  fig  and  the  Somali  pine.” 

8.  Indian  copal. — The  text  is  kankamon , which  is  mentioned  by 
Pliny  as  a dye  (probably  in  confusion  with  lac);  by  Dioscorides  as 
the  exudation  of  a wood  like  myrrh,  and  used  for  incense.  Pliny 
(XII,  44)  says  that  it  came  “from  the  country  that  produces  cinna- 
mon, through  the  Nabataean  Troglodytae,  a colony  of  the  Nabataei.” 
Glaser  (Skizze,  196)  is  positive  that  it  is  no  Arabian  product.  Col. 
Henry  Yule  identifies  it  with  Indian  copal,  Malabar  tallow,  or  white 
dammar,  the  gum  exuded  from  Vateria  Indica,  Linn.,  order  Diptero- 
carpece-,  which  is  described  by  Watt  (op.  cit.,  p.  1105,)  as  a “large 
evergreen  of  the  forests  at  the  foot  of  the  Western  Ghats  from  Kanara 
to  Travancore,  ascending  to  4000  feet.  ” This  gum  or  resin  dissolves 
in  turpentine  or  drying  oils,  and,  like  copal,  is  chiefly  used  for  making 
varnishes.  The  bark  is  also  very  astringent,  rich  in  tannin,  and  is 
used  to  control  fermentation. 

8.  Macir  is  mentioned  by  Dioscorides  as  an  aromatic  bark. 
Pliny  (XII,  16)  says  that  it  was  brought  from  India,  being  a red  bark 


81 


growing  upon  a large  root,  bearing  the  name  of  the  tree  that  produced 
it.  He  was  ignorant  of  the  tree  itself.  A decoction  of  this  bark, 
mixed  with  honey,  was  used  in  medicine  as  a specific  for  dysentery. 

Lassen  {op.  cit.,  Ill,  31)  identifies  it  with  makara,  a remedy  for 
dysentery,  consisting  of  the  root-bark  of  a tree  native  on  the  Malabar 
coast;  but  he  does  not  identify  the  tree. 

This  macir  was  doubtless  the  root-bark  of  Holarrhena  antidysen- 
terica,  Wall.,  order  Apocynaceee,  described  by  Watt  {op.  cit.  p.  640) 
as  “a  small  deciduous  tree,  found  throughout  India  and  Burma, 
ascending  the  lower  Himalaya  to  3500  feet,  and  to  a similar  altitude 
on  the  hills  of  Southern  India.  . . . Both  bark  and  seed  of  this  plant 
are  among  the  most  important  medicines  in  the  Hindu  materia  medica. 
By  the  Portuguese  this  was  called  herba  malabarica,  owing  to  its  great 
merit  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery,  they  having  found  it  on  the 
Malabar  coast.  The  preparation,  generally  in  the  form  of  a solid  or 
liquid  extract,  or  of  a decoction,  is  astringent,  antidysenteric  and 
anthelmintic.  The  seeds  yield  a fixed  oil,  and  the  wood-ash  is  used 
in  dyeing.  The  wood  is  much  used  for  carving,  furniture  and 
turnery.  ” 

9.  MlindllS  is  probably  the  modern  Bandar  Hais,  10°  52' 
N.,  46°  50'  E.  Glaser  ( Skizze , 197)  would  identify  it  with  Berbera. 
But  the  text  gives  “two  or  three  days’  sail’’  between  Malao  and 
Mundus,  altogether  too  much  for  the  30  miles,  more  or  less,  between 
Bulhar  and  Berbera.  And  just  as  the  “sheltering  spit”  identifies 
Berbera  as  Malao,  so  does  the  “island  close  to  shore”  identify  Hais 
as  Mundus.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin  ( Le  Nord  de  /’ Afrique  dam 
I’antiquite  grecque  et  romaine,  p.  285  ) describes  a small  island  protecting 
this  little  harbor,  and  says  it  was  much  frequented  by  Arab  and  Somali 
tribes. 

Muller’s  identification  with  Burnt  Island  (11°  15'  N.,  47°  15' 
E. ) is  less  probable  because  that  island  is  too  far  from  shore  to  afford 
protection  to  small  vessels. 

9.  MocrotU  was  probably  a high  grade  of  frankincense.  Glaser 
(> Skizze,  199-201)  notes  that  the  Arabic  name  for  the  best  variety  is 
rnghairot , or  in  Mahri,  mghdr;  and  that  the  same  word  appears  in 
Somaliland  as  mokhr.  From  this  to  the  Greek  of  the  text  the  change 
is  negligible. 

10.  Mosyllum  is  placed  by  most  commentators  at  Ras  Hantara, 
(11°  28'  N.,  49°  35'  E. ) Glaser  prefers  Ras  Khamzir  (10°  55' N., 
45°  50'  E.)  many  miles  farther  west.  The  text  gives  no  help  in  the 
way  of  local  description.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Pliny  says  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  begins  here;  ignoring  not  only  the  coast  of  Azania,  as 


82 


described  in  § 15,  but  the  Cape  of  Spices  itself.  Mosyllum  was  proba- 
bly, therefore,  rather  a prominent  headland  on  the  coast,  altogether 
such  as  Ras  Hantara. 

This,  by  the  way,  was  reputed  to  have  been  the  eastward  limit  of 
the  conquests  of  Ptolemy  Euergetes,  King  of  Egypt,  in  the  3d 
century  B.  C. 

10.  Cinnamon. — The  text  is  kas'ia,  from  Hebrew  kezia  (Ps. 
XLV,  8;  Ezek.  XXVII,  19,  XXX,  24),  the  modern  cassia.  This 
meant  usually,  in  Roman  times,  the  wood  split  lengthwise,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  flower-tips  and  tender  bark,  which  rolled  up  into 
small  pipes  and  was  called  kinnamomon,  from  Hebrew  kheneh,  a pipe; 
khinemon  (Exod.  XXX,  23,  Prov.  VII,  17,  Cant.  IV,  14);  Latin 
carwa,  French  cannelle. 

Cinnamon  and  cassia  are  the  flower-tips,  bark,  and  wood  of 
several  varieties  of  laurel  native  in  India,  T ibet,  Burma  and  China. 
Engler  and  Prantl,  Die  Natiiriichen  Pjiarvzen  farm  hen , classify  them  as 
follows : 

La  u race  a: 

Persoideae : 

Cinnamomeae : 

1.  Cinnamomum 

Sect.  1 . Malabathrum 

including  C.  javaneum 
C.  cassia 
C.  zeylanicum 
C.  culilawan 
C.  tamala 
C.  iners 

Sect.  2.  Camphora 

including  C.  camphora 

C.  parthenoxylon 

Cinnamon  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  ingredients  of  the  sacred 
anointing  oil  of  the  Hebrew  priests  (Exod.  XXX).  The  Egyptian 
inscriptions  of  Queen  Hatshepsut’s  expedition,  in  the  15th  century 
B.  C. , mention  cinnamon  wood  as  one  of  the  “marvels  of  the 
country  of  Punt”  which  were  brought  back  to  Egypt. 

Cinnamon  was  familiar  to  both  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and 
was  used  as  an  incense,  and  as  a flavor  in  oils  and  salves.  It  is  men- 
tioned by  Hippocrates,  Theophrastus,  and  Pliny.  Dioscorides  gives 
a long  description  of  it.  He  says  it  “grows  in  Arabia;  the  best  sort 
is  red,  of  a fine  color,  almost  like  coral;  straight,  long,  and  pipy,  and 
it  bites  on  the  palate  with  a slight  sensation  of  heat.  The  best  sort  is 


83 


that  called  zigir,  with  a scent  like  a rose.  . . . The  cinnamon  has 
many  names,  from  the  different  places  where  it  grows.  But  the  best 
sort  is  that  which  is  like  the  casia  of  Mosyllum,  and  this  cinnamon  is 
called  Mosyllitic,  as  well  as  the  cassia.  ” And  this  cinnamon,  he  says, 
“when  fresh,  in  its  greatest  perfection,  is  of  a dark  color,  something 
between  the  color  of  wine  and  a dark  ash,  like  a small  twig  or  spray 
full  of  knots,  and  very  fragrant.” 

Roman  writers  distinguish  between  true  cinnamon  and  cassia; 
the  former  was  valued  at  1500  denarii  (about  $325)  the  pound;  the 
latter  at  50  denarii.  The  Periplus  makes  no  distinction;  “cassia”  it 
mentions  at  Mosyllum  and  Opone,  and  the  “harder  cassia”  at  Malao. 
Cinnamon,  under  the  Empire,  probably  meant  the  tender  shoots  and 
flower-tips  of  the  tree,  which  were  reserved  for  the  emperors  and  pa- 
tricians, and  distributed  by  them  on  solemn  occasions.  Cassia  was 
the  commercial  article,  and  included  the  bark,  the  split  wood,  and  the 
root.  The  Romans  could  not  distinguish  between  species,  and  their 
classification  was  according  to  the  appearance  of  the  product  as  it  came 
to  them. 

As  to  the  country  of  origin,  Herodotus  (book  III)  states  that 
cassia  was  from  Arabia;  naturally  so,  as  the  Phoenicians  brought  it 
thence.  He  distinguishes  cinnamon,  and  gives  a fabulous  story  of  its 
recovery  from  the  nests  of  great  birds  “in  those  countries  in  which 
Bacchus  was  nursed,”  which  in  Greek  legend  meant  India.  The 
Periplus  says  that  it  was  produced  in  Somaliland,  to  which  Strabo  and 
other  Roman  writers  refer  as  the  regio  cinnamomifera  in  the  same  belief. 
But  there  is  no  sign  of  a cinnamon  tree  in  that  region  at  present, 
where  the  requisite  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  do  not  exist.  Pliny 
(VI,  29)  indicates  that  it  was  merely  trans-shipped  there.  Strabo 
(XVI,  IV,  14)  says  that  it  came  from  the  “far  interior”  of  this 
region,  and  that  nearer  the  coast  only  the  “false  cassia”  grew.  Pliny 
(XXI,  42)  says  that  it  came  from  Aethiopia  and  was  brought  “over 
vast  tracts  of  sea”  to  Ocelis  by  the  Troglodytes,  who  took  five  years 
in  making  the  round  trip.  Here  are  indications  that  the  true  cinna- 
mon was  brought  from  India  and  the  Far  East  to  the  Somali  coast, 
and  there  mixed  with  bark  from  the  laurel-groves  mentioned  in  § 11 
and  by  Strabo,  and  taken  thence  to  Arabia  and  Egypt.  The  Periplus 
notes  also  (§10)  the  “larger  ships”  required  at  Mosyllum  for  the 
cinnamon  trade.  This  was  probably  the  very  midst  of  the  “Land  of 
Punt”  whence  the  Egyptian  fleet  brought  cinnamon  15  centuries 
before. 

In  India  various  barks  and  twigs  are  sold  as  cassia  and  cinnamon, 
and  according  to  Watt  ( op . cit.,  p.  313)  it  is  still  almost  impossible  to 


84 


distinguish  them.  Cassia  bark  ( C.  cassia,  or  Cassia  lignea)  was  his- 
torically the  first  to  be  known,  and  the  best  qualities  came  from  China, 
where  it  is  recorded  first  about  2700  B.  C.  The  Malabar  bark  was 
less  valuable.  Persian  records  invariably  refer  to  cinnamon  as  Dar 
Chini,  “Chinese  bark;”  and  between  the  3d  and  6th  centuries  A.  D. 
there  was  an  active  sea-trade  in  this  article,  in  Chinese  ships,  from 
China  to  Persia. 

Marco  Polo  describes  cinnamon  as  growing  in  Malabar,  Ceylon, 
and  Tibet.  The  British  East  India  Company’s  records  show  that  it 
came  usually  from  China;  and  Millburn  (Or.  Comm.  1813,  II,  500) 
describes  both  bark  and  buds,  and  warns  traders  against  the  “coarse, 
dark  and  badly  packed”  product  of  Malabar. 

Since  the  later  years  of  the  18th  century  the  variety  C.  Tseylanicum 
has  been  extensively  cultivated  in  Ceylon;  but  the  best  quality  is  still 
shipped  from  Canton,  being  from  C.  Cassia , native  throughout  Assam, 
Burma,  and  Southern  China.  It  seems  altogether  probable  that  the 
true  cinnamon  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  and  Hebrew  records,  of 
Herodotus  and  Pliny,  reached  the  Mediterranean  nations  from  no 
nearer  place  than  Burma,  and  perhaps  through  the  Straits  of  Malacca 
from  China  itself.  Many,  indeed,  must  have  been  the  hands  through 
which  it  passed  on  its  long  journey  to  Rome. 

The  malabathrum  of  the  Romans,  which  they  bought  in  India 
while  still  unable  to  obtain  cinnamon  there,  was  the  leaves. of  three 
varieties:  that  of  the  Malabar  mountains  from  C.  xeylanicum,  and  that 
of  the  Himalayas  from  C.  tamala,  with  a little  from  C.  iners. 

These  trees  are  all  of  fairly  large  growth,  evergreen,  rising  to 
about  6000  feet  altitude.  1'he  tree  flowers  in  January,  the  fruit  ripens 
in  April,  and  the  bark  is  full  of  sap  in  May  and  June,  when  it  is 
stripped  off  and  forms  the  best  grade  of  cinnamon.  The  strippings 
of  later  months  are  not  so  delicate  and  are  less  valued. 

See  Watt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  310-313;  Lassen,  op.  cit.,  I,  279-285, 
II,  555-561;  Vincent,  II,  130,  701-16;  Eluckiger  and  Hanbury, 
Pharmacographia,  519-527;  Afarco  Polo , ule  Ed.,  II,  49,  56,  315, 
389;  and  for  malabathrum  or  folium  indtcum,  see  Garcia  de  Orta, 
Coll.,  XXIII;  also  comment  by  Ball  in  Roy.  Ir.  Acad.,  3d  ser. , 
I,  409;  also  Linschoten,  Voy.  E.  Ind.  (Ed.  Hakl.  Soc.),  II,  131. 

11.  Little  Nile  River  . — The  text  is  Neilopotamion , perhaps  a 
reflection  of  Egyptian  Greek  settlement.  Another  reading  is  Neilo- 
ptolemaion,  which  might  also  suggest  a connection  with  one  of  the 
Ptolemies.  But  in  Egyptian  records  there  is  no  mention  of  settlement 
or  conquest  so  far  east. 

Muller  identifies  this  river  with  the  Tokwina  (11°  30'  N. , 49° 


85 


55'  E. ) which  empties  below  a mountain,  Jebel  Haima,  3800  feet 
high;  there  are  ancient  ruins  here.  The  “small  laurel  grove”  he 
places  at  Bandar  Muriyeh  (11°  40'  N.,  50°  25'  E. ),  below  the  Jebel 
Muriyeh,  4000  feet  high. 

11.  Cape  Elephant  seems  to  be  the  modern  Ras  el  Fil,  or 
Filuk,  12°  0'  N.,  50°  32'  E.  It  is  a promontory  800  feet  high,  about 
40  miles  west  of  Cape  Guardafui.  The  word  fil  is  said  also  to 
mean  “elephant,”  and  the  shape  of  the  headland  suggests  the  name. 
A river  empties  into  the  gulf  just  east  of  the  promontory.  Glaser 
( Siizze , 199)  thinks  this  is  too  far  east,  and  prefers  Ras  Hadadeh 
(48°  45'  E.  ).  Elephant  River  he  identifies  with  the  Dagaan  (49°  E.  ) 
or  the  Tokwina  (49°  55'  E. ),  from  which  the  modern  fusus  frank- 
incense is  brought  to  Aden.  But  by  placing  Mosyllum  at  Ras  Kham- 
zir,  Glaser  is  entirely  too  far  west  to  admit  of  covering  the  remainder 
of  this  coast  in  two  days’  journey,  as  stated  in  § 11.  And  the  “south- 
erly trend”  of  the  coast  just  before  Guardafui,  mentioned  in  § 12,  fixes 
Cape  Elephant  at  Ras  el  Fil. 

Glaser  objects  to  the  relatively  short  two  days’  sail  between  Ras 
Hantara  and  Guardafui;  but  he  fails  to  take  into  account  the  prevailing 
calms  north  of  the  cape,  which  would  justify  a shorter  day’s  sail  in 
that  vicinity  than  farther  west,  where  the  winds  are  steadier. 

Salt  {op.  cit.,  97-8)  says:  “Scarcely  had  we  got  round  the  cape 
(Guardafui)  when  the  wind  deadened.  At  daylight  we  found  that 
we  had  made  scarcely  any  progress.  The  same  marks  on  the  shore 
remained  the  whole  day  abreast  of  us.’ 

11.  Acannae  is  identified  with  Bandar  Ululah,  12°  0'  N. , 
50°  42'  E.  McCrindle  notes  that  Captain  Saris,  an  English  navi- 
gator, called  here  in  1611,  and  reported  a river,  emptying  into  a bay, 
offering  safe  anchorage  for  three  ships  abreast.  Several  sorts  of  gums, 
very  sweet  in  burning,  were  still  purchased  by  Indian  ships  from  the 
Gulf  of  Cambay,  which  touched  here  for  that  purpose  on  their  voyage 
to  Mocha. 

12.  The  Cape  of  Spices  is,  of  course,  the  modern  Cape 
Guardafui,  or  Ras  Asir,  11°  50'  N.,  51°  16'  E.  McCrindle  de- 
scribes it  as  “a  bluff  point,  2500  feet  high,  as  perpendicular  as  if  it 
were  scarped.  T he  current  comes  round  it  out  of  the  Gulf  (of 
Aden)  with  such  violence  that  it  is  not  to  be  stemmed  without  a brisk 
wind,  and  during  the  S.  W.  monsoon  the  moment  you  are  past  the 
Cape  to  the  north  there  is  a stark  calm  with  insufferable  heat.” 


86 


From  Salt:  A Voyage  into  Abyssinia. 


This  is  the  “Southern  Horn”  of  Strabo,  who  says  (XVI,  IV, 
14)  “after  doubling  this  cape  toward  the  south,  we  have  no  more  de- 
scriptions of  harbors  or  places,  because  nothing  is  known  of  the  sea- 
coast  beyond  this  point.” 

Pliny  prefers  the  account  of  King  Juba  of  Mauretania,  compiled 
from  earlier  information,  in  which  the  end  of  the  continent  is  placed 
at  Mosyllum;  so  that  if  he  had  before  him  this  Periplus,  he  ignored 
completely  the  account  it  gives  of  this  coast. 

The  Market  of  Spices  is  identified  by  Glaser  (Skizze,  II,  20) 
with  the  modern  Olok,  on  the  N.  W.  side  of  the  Cape. 

Strabo’s  description  is  as  follows  (XVI,  IV,  14)  : “Next  is  the 
country  which  produces  frankincense;  it  has  a promontory  and  a 
temple  with  a grove  of  poplars.  In  the  inland  parts  is  a tract  along 
the  banks  of  a river  bearing  the  name  of  Isis,  and  another  that  of 
Nilus,  both  of  which  produce  myrrh  and  frankincense.  Also  a lagoon 
filled  with  water  from  the  mountains;  next  the  watchpost  of  the  Lion, 
and  the  port  of  Pythangelus.  The  next  tract  bears  the  false  cassia. 
There  are  many  tracts  in  succession  on  the  sides  of  rivers  on  which 
frankincense  grows,  and  rivers  extending  to  the  cinnamon  country. 
The  river  which  bounds  this  tract  produces  rushes  in  abundance. 
Then  follows  another  river,  and  the  port  of  Daphnus,  and  a valley 
called  Apollo’s,  which  bears,  besides  frankincense,  myrrh  and  cinna- 
mon. The  latter  is  more  abundant  in  places  far  in  the  interior. 
Next  is  the  mountain  Elephas  projecting  into  the  sea,  and  a creek; 
then  the  large  harbor  of  Psygmus,  a watering-place  called  that  of  the 
Cynocephali,  and  the  last  promontory  of  this  coast,  Notu  Ceras  (the 
Southern  Horn).” 

12.  Tabae  is  placed  by  Muller  at  the  Ras  Chenarif,  11°  5'  N. 
Glaser  ( Skizze,  201)  thinks  the  distance  from  Olok  too  great,  and 
places  Tabae  just  behind  the  eastern  point  of  the  cape. 


87 


13.  Pano  is  probably  Ras  Binna,  11°  12'  N. , 51°  7’  E.  There 
is  a modern  village  on  the  north  side,  a little  west  of  the  point,  which 
affords  shelter  from  the  S.  W.  monsoon. 

13.  Opone  is  the  remarkable  headland  now  known  as  Ras 
Hafun,  10°  25’  N. , 51°  25'  E. , about  90  miles  below  Cape  Guardafui. 

Glaser  finds  a connection  between  these  names,  Pano  and  Opone, 
the  Egyptian  '‘Land  of  Punt"  or  Poen-at,  the  island  Pa-anch  of  the 
Egyptians  (Socotra),  the  incense-land  Panchaia  of  Virgil  ( Georgies , II, 
139;  “Totaque  turiferis  Panchaia  pinguis  arenis,’’)  and  the  Puni  or 
Phoenicians;  who,  he  thinks,  divided  as  they  left  their  home  in  the 
Persian  Gulf  (the  islands  of  King  Erythras  in  the  story  quoted  by 
Agatharchides) ; one  branch  going  to  the  coasts  of  Syria,  the  other  to 
those  of  South  Arabia  and  East  Africa. 

13.  Cinnamon  produced. — A letter  from  Mr.  R.  E.  Drake  - 
Brockman,  F.  Z.  S. , F.  R.  G.  S. , (author  of  The  Mammals  of  So- 
maliland, and  now  at  work  on  Somali  Flora)  dated  Berbera,  January  7, 
1910,  says: 

“The  'Horn  of  Africa’  was  known  to  the  Romans  as  the  regio 
aromatifera  on  account  of  the  large  quantities  of  myrrh  that  were 
exported.  The  country  abounds  in  the  various  species  of  the  acacias, 
which  produce  gums  of  varying  commercial  value,  also  certain  trees 
producing  resins. 

“I  have  so  far  not  come  across  any  trees  of  the  cinnamon  group, 
nor  have  I heard  of  their  existence. 

“The  tree  producing  myrrh,  or  malmal  as  it  is  known  to  the 
Somalis,  is  called  garron;  but  owing  to  the  activities  of  the  Mullah  I 
hat  e never  been  able  to  penetrate  the  southern  Dholbanta  and  Mijer- 
tain  countries  where  it  grows." 

And  again,  March  3:  “I  have  never  heard  of  the  exportation  of 
cinnamon  from  this  part  of  Africa.  ...  It  is  just  possible  that  there 
might  be  some  species  of  laurels  in  the  Dholbanta  country  and  south 
of  it,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  venture  so  far  owing  to  the  hostility  of 
the  Mullah.” 

If  there  was  any  aromatic  bark  produced  near  Cape  Guardafui 
and  not  merely  trans-shipped  there,  it  seems  almost  certain  that  it  was 
an  adulterant  added  there  to  the  true  cinnamon,  that  came  from  India 

14.  Ships  from  Ariaca. — The  antiquity  of  Hindu  trade  . 
.in  East  Africa  is  asserted  by  Speke  ( Discovery  of  the  Source  of  the 
ATilc,  Chaps.  I,  V,  X).  The  Puranas  described  the  Mountains  of 
the  Moon  and  the  Nyanza  lakes,  and  mentioned  as  the  source  of 
the  Nile  the  “country  of  Amara,"  which  is  the  native  name  of  the 
district  north  of  Victoria  Nyanza.  A map  based  on  this  description, 


88 


drawn  by  Lieut.  Wilford,  was  printed  in  the  Asiatic  Researches , Vol. 
Ill,  1801. 

“Nothing  was  ever  written  concerning  their  Country  of  the 
Moon,  as  far  as  we  know,  until  the  Hindus,  who  traded  with  the 
east  coast  of  Africa,  opened  commercial  dealings  with  its  people  in 
slaves  and  ivory,  possibly  some  time  prior  to  the  birth  of  our  Saviour, 
when,  associated  with  their  name,  Men  of  the  Moon,  sprang  into 
existence  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon.  These  Men  of  the  Moon 
are  hereditarily  the  greatest  traders  in  Africa,  and  are  the  only  people, 
who,  for  love  of  barter  and  change,  will  leave  their  own  country  as 
porters  and  go  to  the  coast,  and  they  do  so  with  as  much  zest  as  our 
country-folk  go  to  a fair.  As  far  back  as  we  can  trace  they  have  done 
this,  and  they  still  do  it  as  heretofore. 

“The  Hindu  traders  had  a firm  basis  to  stand  upon,  from  their 
intercourse  with  the  Abyssinians — through  whom  they  must  have 
heard  of  the  country  of  Amara,  which  they  applied  to  the  Nyanza — 
and  with  the  Wanyamue%i  or  Men  of  the  Moon,  from  whom  they 
heard  of  the  Tanganyika  and  Karague  mountains.  Two  church 
missionaries,  Rebmann  and  Erhardt,  without  the  smallest  knowledge 
of  the  Hindus’  map,  constructed  a map  of  their  own,  deduced  from 
the  Zanzibar  traders,  something  on  the  same  scale,  by  blending  the 
Victoria  Nyanza,  Tanganyika,  and  Nyassa  into  one;  whilst  to  their 
triuned  lake  they  gave  the  name  of  Moon,  because  the  Men  of  the 
Moon  happened  to  live  in  front  of  the  central  lake.’  ’ 

This  trading-voyage  of  the  first  ceatury  by  Indian  vessels,  although 
less  extended,  was  in  other  respects  similar  to  that  of  the  Arab  traders 
of  a century  ago  as  described  by  Salt  {op.  cit.,  p.  103)  : 

“ The  common  track  pursued  by  the  Arab  traders  is  as  follows: 
they  depart  from  the  Red  Sea  in  August  (before  which  it  is  dangerous 
to  venture  out  of  the  gulf),  then  proceed  to  Muscat,  and  thence  to 
the  coast  of  Malabar.  In  December  they  cross  over  to  the  coast  of 
Africa,  visit  Mogdishu,  Merka,  Barawa,  Lamu,  Malindi,  and  the 
Querimbo  Islands;  they  then  direct  their  course  to  the  Comoro 
Islands,  and  the  northern  ports  of  Madagascar,  or  sometimes  stretch 
down  southward  as  far  as  Sofala;  this  occupies  them  until  after  April, 
when  they  run  up  into  the  Red  Sea,  where  they  arrive  in  time  to  refit 
and  prepare  a fresh  cargo  for  the  following  year.” 

14.  The  products  of  their  own  places. — For  a discussion 
of  the  products  of  India  imported  into  the  Somali  ports,  see  later, 
under  § 41.  The  important  thing  to  be  noted  here  is  that  these  ag- 
ricultural products  were  regularly  shipped,  in  Indian  vessels,  from  the 
Gulf  of  Cambay;  that  these  vessels  exchanged  their  cargoes  at  Cape 


89 


Guardafui  and  proceeded  along  the  coast,  some  southward,  but  most 
westward;  and  that,  according  to  § 25,  Ocelis,  at  the  entrance  to  the 
Red  Sea,  was  their  terminus,  the  Arabs  forbidding  them  to  trade 
beyond.  Between  India  and  Cape  Guardafui  they  apparently  enjoyed 
the  bulk  of  the  trade,  shared  to  some  extent  by  Arabian  shipping  and 
quite  recently  by  Greek  ships  from  Egypt;  on  the  Somali  coast  they 
shared  the  trade  in  an  incidental  way;  and  they  received  their  return 
cargoes  at  Ocelis  and  shared  none  of  the  Red  Sea  trade,  which  in 
former  times  the  Arabs  of  Yemen  had  monopolized,  but  in  the  days 
of  the  Ptolemies  the  Egyptians  had  largely  taken  over. 

At  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  owing  to  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by 
the  Romans,  the  establishment  of  the  Axumite  Kingdom,  and  a settled 
policy  in  Rome  of  cultivating  direct  communication  with  India,  this 
commercial  understanding,  or  alliance,  between  Arabia  and  India 
(which  had  existed  certainly  for  2000  years  and  probably  much 
longer),  is  shown  to  be  at  the  point  of  extinction;  but  still  to  be 
strong  enough  for  the  Romans  to  know  the  cinnamon-bark  only  as  a 
product  of  the  Arabian  tributary,  Somaliland,  while  the  cinnamon-leaf, 
a later  article  of  commerce,  they  knew  (§§  56,  65)  under  the  name 
of  malabathrum , as  a product  of  India  and  Tibet. 

14.  Clarified  butter. — The  text  is  boutyron.  Some  of  the 
commentators  object  to  the  word  (Lassen  and  Fabricius  especially) 
and  Fabricius,  in  his  notes  (p.  130)  thinks  it  would  be  'Very  wrong 
to  suppose  that  butter  could  have  been  brought  from  India,  in  this  hot 
climate,  to  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa.”  Therefore  they  propose 
substitutes,  as  noted  under  § 41. 

The  voyage  from  India  to  Africa  by  the  N.  E.  monsoon  may 
have  averaged  30  to  40  days.  As  shown  under  § 41,  clarified  butter 
will  keep  in  the  tropics  not  only  for  years,  but  for  centuries;  but  the 
account  given  by  Burton  ( First  Footsteps,  pp.  136  and  247)  shows  that 
modern  caravans  take  it  for  trips  of  six  weeks  or  more,  under  the  same 
hot  climate  of  Somaliland;  and  Lieut.  Cruttenden,  in  his  description 
of  the  Berbera  Fair,  tells  of  modern  Cambay  ships  laden  with  ghee 
in  jars,  bought  in  Somaliland  for  trade  elsewhere;  probably  along  the 
Arabian  coast.  That  is,  the  Somali  had  learned  the  art  of  clarifying 
butter,  and  exported  it  in  the  19th  century  by  the  same  class  of  ships 
that  had  brought  it  to  them  from  India  in  the  1st  century. 

Mungo  Park  found  the  same  product  entering  into  the  commerce 
of  the  much  more  humid  Senegal  coast  of  West  Africa: 

“The  Foulahs  use  the  milk  chiefly  as  an  article  of  diet,  and  that 
not  until  it  is  sour.  The  cream  which  it  affords  is  very  thick,  and  is 
converted  into  butter  by  stirring  it  violently  in  a large  calabash.  This 


90 


butter,  when  melted  over  a gentle  tire,  and  freed  from  impurities,  is 
preserved  in  small  earthen  pots,  and  forms  a part  in  most  of  their 
dishes;  it  serves  likewise  to  anoint  their  heads,  and  is  bestowed  very 
liberally  on  their  faces  and  arms.”  ( Travels  of  Alungo  Park , Lon- 
don: 1799.  Chap.  IV.) 

14.  Honey  from  the  reed  called  sacchari  is  the  first  men- 
tion in  the  history  of  the  European  world  of  sugar  as  an  article  of 
commerce.  It  was  known  to  Pliny  as  a medicine.  Sacchari  is  the 
Prakrit  form  of  the  Sanscrit  sarkara , Arabic  sukkar , Latin  saccharum. 


Grinding  sugar,  in  Western  India 

The  modern  languages  reflect  the  Arabic  form — Portuguese,  assucar, 
Spanish  azucar,  French  sucre,  German  zucker,  English  sugar.  1 he 
sugar  is  derived  from  Saccharum  officinarum,  Linn.,  order  Graminecc. 
It  was  produced  in  India,  Burma,  Anam  and  Southern  China,  long 
before  it  found  its  way  to  Rome,  and  seems  to  have  been  cultivated 
and  crushed  first  in  India. 

14.  Exchange  their  cargoes. — This  trade  of  the  Indian 
ships  at  Opone  and  elsewhere,  is  so  like  that  described  on  the  same 


91 


coast  by  Lieut.  Cruttenden  in  1848,  that  his  account  deserves  to  be 
quoted  in  full: 

“From  April  to  early  October,”  (the  quotation  is  from  Burton, 
First  Footsteps,  408-10),  “the  place  is  deserted.  No  sooner  does  the 
season  change  than  the  inland  tribes  move  down  toward  the  coast, 
and  prepare  their  huts  for  their  expected  visitors.  Small  craft  from 
the  ports  of  Yemen,  anxious  to  have  an  opportunity  of  purchasing 
before  vessels  from  the  gulf  could  arrive,  hastened  across,  followed  two 
or  three  weeks  later  by  their  larger  brethren  from  Muscat,  Sur,  and  Ras 
el  Khyma,  and  the  valuably  freighted  bagalas  from  Bahrein,  Bassora, 
and  Graen.  Lastly,  the  fat  and  wealthy  Banian  traders  from  Pore- 
bandar,  Mandavi  and  Bombay,  rolled  across  in  their  clumsy  kotias , 
and  with  a formidable  row  of  empty  ghee-jars  slung  over  the  quarters 
of  their  vessels,  elbowed  themselves  into  a permanent  position  in  the 
front  tier  of  craft  in  the  harbor,  and  by  their  superior  capital,  cunning, 
and  influence  soon  distanced  all  competitors. 

“During  the  height  of  the  fair  there  is  a perfect  Babel,  in  con- 
fusion as  in  languages;  no  chief  is  acknowledged,  and  the  customs 
of  bygone  days  are  the  laws  of  the  place.  Disputes  between  the  in- 
land tribes  daily  arise,  and  are  settled  by  the  spear  and  dagger,  the 
combatants  retiring  to  the  beach  at  a short  distance  from  the  town,  in 
order  that  they  may  not  disturb  the  trade.  Long  strings  of  camels  are 
arriving  and  departing  day  and  night,  escorted  generally  by  women 
alone,  until  at  a distance  from  town;  and  an  occasional  group  of 
dusty  and  travel-worn  children  marks  the  arrival  of  the  slave-caravan 
from  the  interior. 

“Flere  the  Somali  or  Galla  slave  merchant  meets  his  corre- 
spondent from  Bassora,  Bagdad  or  Bandar  Abbas;  and  the  savage 
Gudabirsi,  with  his  head  tastefully  ornamented  with  a scarlet  sheep- 
skin in  lieu  of  a wig,  is  seen  peacefully  bartering  his  ostrich  feathers 
and  gums  with  the  smooth-spoken  Banian  from  Porebandar,  who, 
prudently  living  on  board  his  ark,  and  locking  up  his  puggaree,  which 
would  infallibly  be  knocked  off  the  instant  he  was  seen  wearing  it, 
exhibits  but  a small  portion  of  his  wares  at  a time,  under  a miserable 
mat  spread  on  the  beach. 

“By  the  end  of  March  the  fair  is  nearly  at  an  end,  and  craft  of 
all  kinds,  deeply  laden,  and  sailing  generally  in  parties  of  three  or 
four,  commence  their  homeward  journey.  By  the  first  week  in  April 
the  place  is  again  deserted,  and  nothing  is  left  to  mark  the  site  of  a 
town  lately  containing  20,000  inhabitants,  beyond  bones  of  slaughtered 


92' 


camels  and  sheep,  and  the  framework  of  a few  huts,  which  is  carefully 
piled  on  the  beach  in  readiness  for  the  ensuing  year.” 

15.  1 he  Bluffs  of  Azania  are  the  rugged  coast  known  as  El 
Hazin,  ending  at  Ras  el  Kyi,  7°  44'  N.,  49°  40'  E. 

15.  The  Small  and  great  beach  is  the  Sif  el  Tauil  or  “low 
coast,”  ending  at  Ras  Aswad,  4°  30'  N.,  47°  55'  E.  ; but  this  is 
actually  a longer  course  than  the  bluffs,  whereas  the  Periplus  rates 
them  both  as  six  days’  journey. 

15.  The  Courses  of  Azania  are  the  strips  of  desert  coast  ex- 
tending below  the  equator.  The  Arabs  divide  this  coast  into  two 
sections,  the  first  called  Barr  Ajjan  (preserving  the  ancient  name), 
the  second  Benadir,  or  “coast  of  harbors.”  Sarapion  may  be  the 
modern  Mogdishu,  2°  5'  N.,  45°  25'  E.  Nicon  is,  perhaps,  the 
modern  Barawa,  1°  10'  N. , 44°  5'  E.  The  “rivers  and  anchorages” 
are  along  the  modern  El  Djesair  or  “coast  of  islands.” 

Concerning  the  name  Azania,  R.  N.  Lyne,  in  his  Zanzibar  in 
Contemporary  Times,  and  Col.  Henry  Yule,  in  his  edition  of  Marco 
Polo,  have  much  of  interest.  The  name  survives  in  the  modern  Zan- 
zibar (the  Portuguese  form  of  Zanghibar),  which  Marco  Polo  applied 
not  only  to  the  island,  but  to  the  whole  coast;  and  it  is  popularly 
derived  from  bar,  coast,  and  zang,  black:  “land  of  the  blacks.”  But 
the  name  seems  to  be  older,  and  to  refer  to  the  ancient  Arabic  and 
Persian  division  of  the  world  into  three  sections,  Hind,  Sind  and  Zinj, 
wherefrom  even  European  geographers  in  mediaeval  times  classified 
East  Africa  as  one  of  the  Indies,  and  Marco  Polo  located  Abyssinia 
in  “Middle  India.’’  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  writing  in  the  6th  cen- 
tury A.  D.,  indicates  that  the  whole  “Zingi”  coast,  to  a point  cer- 
tainly below  Mogdishu,  was  subject  to  the  Abyssinian  Kingdom. 
Yule  notes  that  the  Japanese  Encyclopaedia  describes  a “country  of 
the  Tsengu  in  the  S.  W.  ocean,  where  there  is  a bird  called  pheng, 
which  in  its  flight  eclipses  the  sun.  It  can  swallow  a camel,  and  its 
quills  are  used  for  water  casks.”  This  is  doubtless  the  Zanghibar 
coast,  the  name  and  legend  reaching  Japan  through  the  Arabs. 

The  lack  of  distinction  in  ancient  geography  between  Asia  and 
Africa  goes  back  to  the  dawn  of  letters.  Hecataeus  in  the  6th  century 
B.  C.  divided  the  world  into  two  equal  continents — Europe,  north  of 
the  Mediterranean ; Asia,  south  of  it.  Around  them  ran  the  ocean 
stream.  The  distinction  is  supposed  to  have  been  based  on  temper- 
ature. Tozer  {.History  of  Ancient  Geography , p.  69)  refers  it  to  ancient 
Assyria,  a^u  (sunrise)  and  irib  (darkness)  frequently  occurring  in  in- 
scriptions there. 


15.  “In  this  place  there  are  canoes  hollowed  from  single  logs.’’ 


93 


94 


15.  The  Pyralaae  Islands  are  evidently  Patta,  Manda,  and 
Lamu,  back  of  which  there  is  a thoroughfare,  the  only  protected 
waterway  on  the  whole  coast.  This  is  the  “channel;”  several  rivers 
empty  into  it,  and  there  is  a passage  to  the  ocean  between  Manda 
and  Lamu,  2°  18'  S. , 40°  50'  E.  Vincent’s  identification  of  the 
“channel”  with  Mombasa,  on  account  of  a canal  now  known  to 
have  been  dug  there  much  later,  is  impossible. 

15.  Ausanitic  Coast. — Ausan  was  a district  of  Kataban  in 
South  Arabia,  which  had  been  absorbed  by  Himyar  shortly  before  the 
time  of  the  Periplus;  hence  the  natural  result,  that  a dependency  of 
the  conquered  state  should  be  exploited  for  the  advantage  of  the 
Homerite  port,  Muza. 

15.  Menuthias. — This  whole  passage  is  corrupt,  and  there  are 
probably  material  omissions.  The  first  island  south  of  Manda  is 
Pemba  (at  about  5°  S.  ).  But  the  topographic  description  is  perhaps 
truer  to  Zanzibar  (about  6°  S. ),  and  the  name  seems  perpetuated  in 
the  modern  Monfiyeh  (about  8°  S. ).  Our  author  was  possibly  un- 
acquainted with  this  coast,  and  included  in  his  work  hearsay  reports 
from  some  seafaring  acquaintance,  in  which  he  may  have  lumped  the 
three  islands  into  one;  or  if  he  is  describing  places  he  has  visited 
(which  is  suggested  by  the  mention  of  the  local  fishing-baskets  and 
the  like),  some  scribe  may  have  omitted  a whole  section  of  the  text. 

16.  Rhapta. — This  location  depends  on  the  condition  of  the 
preceding  text  regarding  the  island  Menuthias.  If  that  be  Pemba, 
Rhapta  would  be  the  modern  Pangani  (5°  25’  S.,  38°  59’  E. ),  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  of  the  same  name;  if  Zanzibar,  it  would  be  at  or 
near  Bagamoyo  (6°  31'  S.,  38°  50'  E. );  if  Monfiyeh,  the  modern 
Kilwa  (8°  57'  S. , 39°  38'  E. ).  Vincent’s  insistence  upon  Kilwa  is 
very  likely  well  grounded,  from  the  suggestion  of  the  ancient  name; 
that  is,  if  the  text  is  a mutilated  description  of  three  islands  known  to 
exist  in  close  proximity,  the  “last  market-town  of  the  continent” 
would  naturally  be  below  the  southernmost  island,  Monfiyeh.  But 
the  distances  given  by  Ptolemy  between  Rhapta  and  Prasum  suggest 
for  the  former  a location  near  Bagamoyo,  perhaps  Dar-es-Salaam, 
(6°  42'  S. , 39°  5'  E.  ).  The  Prasum  of  Ptolemy,  the  farthest  point 
in  Africa  known  to  him,  is  evidently  Cape  Delgado  (10°  30'  S. , 
40°  30'  E.).  The  later  identification  of  Menuthias  with  Madagascar 
was  due  to  the  discoveries  of  the  Saracens,  and  is  impossible  for  Ro- 
man times. 

Rhapta,  Glaser  notes,  has  its  name  from  an  Arabian  word  ?-abta, 
to  bind. 


They  catch  them  in  a peculiar  way,  in  wicker  baskets,  which  they  fasten  across  the  channel- 
opening  between  the  breakers.” 


95 


96 


16.  Great  in  stature. — “The  whole  system  of  slaveholding; 
by  the  Arabs  in  Africa,  or  rather  on  the  coast  or  at  Zanzibar,  is  ex- 
ceedingly strange;  for  the  slaves,  both  in  individual  strength  and  in 
numbers,  are  so  superior  to  the  Arab  foreigners,  that  if  they  chose  to 
rebel,  they  might  send  the  Arabs  flying  out  of  the  land.  It  happens, 
however,  that  they  are  spell-bound,  not  knowing  their  strength  any 
more  than  domestic  animals,  and  they  seem  to  consider  that  they 
would  be  dishonest  if.  they  ran  away  after  being  purchased,  and  so 
brought  pecuniary  loss  on  their  owners.”  (Speke,  op.  cit.,  intro- 
duction. ) 

16.  Sovereignty  of  the  state  that  is  become  first  in 
Arabia. — A vivid  picture  is  here  given  us  of  the  early  policies  of  the 
Arabs.  Prevented  by  superior  force  from  expanding  northward,  but 
useful  commercially  to  their  stronger  neighbors,  they  were  free  to 
exploit  Africa.  The  early  Egyptian  records  bear  testimony  to  their 
activities  in  the  second  millennium  B.  C.,  if  not  earlier.  The  “Au- 
sanitic  Coast”  mentioned  in  § 15  was  probably  a possession  of  Ausan 
when  that  state  was  independent,  which  was  not  later  than  the  7th 
century  B.  C.  Later  the  coast  became  Katabanic,  then  Sabaean,  then 
Homerite.  From  the  3d  to  the  6th  centuries  A.  D.,  according  to 
the  Adulis  inscription  and  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  it  was  Abyssinian. 
In  Mohammedan  times  it  returned  to  the  Arab  allegiance,  and  until 
Zanzibar  and  the  adjacent  coast  accepted  the  English  protectorate  they 
were  dependencies  of  the  Sultan  of  Muscat. 

Glaser  has  well  expressed  this  undoubted  fact  of  Arab  dominion 
( Skizze , II,  209):  “We  must  finally  abandon  the  idea  that  Moham- 
med was  the  first  to  bring  Arabia  into  a leading  position  in  the  world’s 
history.  So  long  as  Rome  and  Persia  (and  Egypt  and  Babylon  before 
them)  retained  their  power,  the  Arabs  could  expand  in  Africa  only. 
But  as  soon  as  these  states  became  exhausted,  then  Arabia  burst  forth 
irresistibly  and  overflowed  the  northern  world.”  (See  also  Punt  und 
die  Siidarabisc/ien  Reichc,  20-23.) 

Previous  translators  of  the  Periplus  have  much  misunderstood  the 
meaning  of  this  passage  in  the  text. 

16.  Arab  captains  who  know  the  whole  coast. — The 

discovery  by  Carl  Mauch  in  1871,  of  strange  temple-like  structures  in 
northern  Rhodesia,  led  to  a great  deal  of  wild  assumption  as  to  their 
history.  The  ruins  are  loosely-built  stone  enclosures,  some  of  them 
irregularly  elliptical  in  form,  having  conical  pillars  within,  and  ap- 
parently facing  North,  East  and  West.  The  largest  of  them  were 
situated  somewhat  South  of  the  present  Salisbury-Beira  railway  line, 
near  the  upper  waters  of  the  Sabi  River  and  within  reach  of  the  trade 


97 


of  Sofala,  known  to  have  been  frequented  by  Arab  traders  in  medi- 
aeval times.  It  was  at  once  assumed  that  they  were  of  Sabaean  or 
Phoenician  origin  and  of  great  antiquity.  The  subject  was  volumin- 
ously but  uncritically  written  up.  See  for  instance  Ancient  Ruins  of 
Rhodesia , by  Hall  and  Neal,  London,  1894;  Monomotapa,  by  A. 
Wilmot,  London,  1896,  and  The  Ruined  Cities  of  Mashonaland , by 
J.  T.  Bent,  London,  1902. 

The  appearance  of  the  structures  suggested  the  form  of  ancient 
Arabian  temples,  and  the  locality  was  at  once  identified  with  the 
ubiquitous  “land  of  Ophir”  of  King  Solomon’s  voyages.  Professor 
Muller  {Bur pen  und  Schl'osser,  II,  20),  noted  a resemblance  between 
the  Zimbabwe  enclosure  (20°  30’  S , 31°  10'  E. ) and  the  temple 
at  Marib,  the  capital  of  the  ancient  Sabaean  kingdom  of  Southern 
Arabia.  The  whole  argument  was  of  course  pure  assumption,  as 
there  is  no  reference  in  ancient  literature  to  any  knowledge  of  the 
African  coast  within  six  hundred  miles  of  the  port  of  Sofala.  Dr. 
David  Randall-Maciver  made  a careful  investigation  of  the  ruins  in 
1905,  and  proved  conclusively  in  his  account  of  that  work,  Alediaval 
Rhodesia,  London,  1906,  that  the  structures  were  the  work  of  negroes, 
probably  Kaffirs,  of  the  so-called  kingdom  of  Monomotapa.  A piece 
of  Nankin  china  of  the  late  mediaeval  period,  found  in  the  cement  at 
the  bottom  of  one  of  the  structures,  showed  that  they  could  not  date 
earlier  than  the  1 4th  or  15th  century.  They  were  enclosures  for  de- 
fence, rudely  built  of  loose  stone,  and  their  supposed  orientation  was 
found  to  be  inexact  and  probably  accidental. 

The  service  done  by  Dr.  Maciver  in  disproving  the  antiquity  of 
this  Kaffir  kraal  did  not,  however,  need  to  be  supplemented  by  his 
denial  (pp.  1-2)  of  the  probability  of  Arabian  trade  far  down  this  coast 
at  a very  early  age.  The  Periplus  mentions  Rhapta,  some  distance 
south  of  the  Zanzibar  islands,  as  the  last  settlement  on  the  coast;  and 
Ptolemy  describes  Cape  Delgado.  Dr.  Maciver  may  have  known  the 
Periplus  only  through  the  account  given  by  Guillain  in  1856  {Docu- 
ments sur  I' histoire,  la  geographic  et  le  commerce  de  /’ A frique  Onentale) , but 
at  all  events  he  ignores  the  detailed  account  given  in  both  those  works, 
and  in  the  Periplus  the  statement  is  definitely  made  that  this  whole 
coast  (to  about  10°  S. ) was  “subject  under  some  ancient  right  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  power  which  held  the  primacy  in  Arabia;  ” that  is, 
in  the  1st  century  A.  D.  the  right  was  still  so  ancient  as  to  be  beyond 
the  explanation  of  the  merchant  who  described  it.  The  coast  was 
frequented  by  Arab  ships  in  command  of  Arab  captains  who  knew 
the  harbors,  spoke  the  language  of  the  natives  and  intermarried  with 
them. 


98 


This  condition  is  corroborated  by  the  known  Arab  infusion  in  the 
negro  peoples  on  the  whole  coast,  which  is  of  far  earlier  origin  than 
the  Mohammedan  colonization. 

Who  were  the  natives  and  what  was  their  language,  as  men- 
tioned in  the  Periplus?  Rev.  J.  Torrend,  S.  J.,  in  a paper  read 
before  the  Rhodesia  Scientific  Association,  included  in  its  Proceedings 
(V,  2,  Buluwayo,  1905),  analyzes  the  languages  of  the  coast  and 
finds  a striking  similarity  between  the  speech  of  the  Tana  River,  which 
empties  below  the  island  of  Lamu  about  2°  40’  S.,  and  that  of  the 
lower  Zambesi  (18°-19°  S. ).  He  gives  a long  comparative  list  of 
words  in  these  so-called  Pokomo  and  Cizimba  tongues,  evidently 
identical.  He  quotes  Dr.  Krapf  and  other  German  philologists  as 
saying  that  the  Pokomo  is  the  aboriginal  language  of  the  coast,  and 
that  the  modern  Swahili  is  derived  from  it;  and  he  himself  believes 
that  the  Cizimba  is  even  more  primitive,  and  that  it  gives  the 
key  to  most  of  the  modern  dialects  of  the  southern  coast.  Father 
Torrend,  full  of  the  Sofala-Ophir  theory,  argues  that  the  language  was 
brought  from  the  Tana  River  to  the  Zambesi,  not  by  land  because  the 
modern  tribes  are  of  peaceful  disposition,  but  rather  by  sea,  and  par- 
ticularly by  sea-traders,  assuming  such  to  have  come  from  Arabia. 
The  assumption  is  certainly  far-fetched,  as  it  is  hardly  likely  that  any 
traffic,  however  busy,  would  have  brought  this  negro  language  and 
transplanted  it  1500  miles  down  the  coast  to  a different  tribe.  The 
suggestion  is  rather  that  this  branch  of  the  Bantu  race  migrated  south- 
ward within  historical  times,  through  the  African  rift-valley,  and  that  the 
modern  tribes  of  the  lower  Zambesi,  said  to  be  speaking  to-day  the 
most  primitive  language,  are  their  descendants,  while  those  who  re- 
mained on  the  Tana  have  had  their  speech  modified  more  notably  by 
later  contact  with  the  outside  world. 

The  name  Cizimba,  borne  by  the  modern  dialect,  suggests  the 
Agisymba  of  the  Roman  geographers;  which  was  known  to  them 
through  the  report  of  an  adventurous  youth,  Julius  Maternus,  who 
marched  for  four  months  southward  from  the  Garamantes  (Fezzan), 
and  brought  back  word  of  a region  abounding  in  rhinoceros,  inhabited 
by  negroes  and  bearing  that  name  (Ptolemy,  1,  8,  5).  It  seems  not 
an  unreasonable  assumption  that  he  did  reach  the  head-waters  of  the 
Nile  and  found  somewhere  in  that  great  rift-valley  the  ancestors  of 
this  Bantu  tribe  which  later  migrated  southward  and  formed,  among 
other  confederations,  the  so-called  Monomotapa  of  the  mediaeval  geog- 
raphers. 

This  rift-valley  of  East  Africa  is  a striking  feature  of  its  topog- 
raphy, and  must  have  had  a great  bearing  on  its  early  trade.  A good 


99 


description  is  given  by  Prof.  J.  M.  Gregory,  ( The  Great  Rift  Valley , 
London,  1896).  It  is  a natural  depression  beginning  at  the  lower 
shore  of  the  Red  Sea  between  Massowa  and  the  straits,  taking  a south- 
westerly direction  through  Abyssinia  to  the  British  and  German  East 
African  possessions,  including  lakes  Rudolf,  Nyanza,  Tanganyika  and 
Nyassa,  and  running  almost  to  the  Zambesi.  While  it  is  unl.kely 
that  this  valley  was  ever  at  one  time  under  the  control  of  any  Arabian 
power,  it  is  probable  that  the  tribes  inhabiting  it  were  in  more  or 
less  regular  commercial  relations  with  the  North,  and  that  it  was  a 
more  important  avenue  of  trade  than  the  sea-coast  with  its  broad  un- 
healthy swamps.  It  is  indeed  quite  possible  that  the  Mashonaland 
gold,  which  lay  at  no  great  distance  south  of  the  valley,  might  to  some 
extent  have  found  its  way  along  this  natural  trade-route  by  exchange 
from  tribe  to  tribe;  and  it  is  entirely  unnecessary,  in  disproving  the 
antiquity  of  the  Mashonaland  ruins,  to  attempt  to  disprove  the  manifest 
fact  of  early  Arab  influence  and  infusion  along  the  East  African  coast. 
Neither  is  it  necessary  to  deny  the  general  infiltration  of  early  Arabian 
culture  in  two  directions  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Nile,  southward 
down  the  rift-valley,  and  westward  through  the  Sudan  toward  the  Gulf 
of  Guinea.  In  fact  this  general  spread  of  culture,  folk-lore  and  religious 
beliefs  and  practices,  is  too  well  attested  to  admit  of  denial. 

17.  Palm  oil. — -The  word  in  the  text,  nauplios,  is  corrected  to 
nargilios , a word  which  appears  in  modified  forms  in  other  Greek 
geographers.  This  is  the  Sanscrit  narikela,  narikera,  Prakrit  nargil, 
“cocoanut,”  and  the  appearance  of  the  word  on  the  Zanzibar  coast 
is  of  course  a confirmation  of  Indian  trade  there.  (See  Lassen,  op. 
clt.,  I,  267.)  The  Greek  word  was  koix,  whence  the  adjective  koukio- 
phoros , Latin  cucifera,  from  which  the  Periplus,  § 19,  coins  the  Greek 
adjective  koukinos. 

This  palm  oil  was  from  Cocos  nucifera , Linn.,  order  Palmece ; 
probably  native  in  the  Indian  archipelago,  and  carried  by  natural 
causes  as  well  as  Hindu  activity  to  most  of  the  tropical  world.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  useful  plants  known,  providing  timber  for  houses 
and  ships,  leaves  for  thatch  and  fiber  for  binding  and  weaving,  aside 
from  the  food  value  of  the  nut,  fresh  and  dried,  and  the  oil.  As  a 
medicine  also  it  was  of  importance  to  the  Hindus,  the  pulp  of  the 
ripe  fruit  being  mixed  with  clarified  butter,  coriander,  cumin,  carda- 
moms, etc.,  to  form  their  narikela-khanda , a specific  for  dyspepsia  and 
consumption.  The  nut  was  described  by  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  in 
the  6th  century  as  argellion:  and  by  Marco  Polo  in  the  13th  century 
(I,  102;  II,  236,  248)  as  Indian  nut.  (See  also  Watt,  op.  clt., 
349-363.) 


ORBIS  TERRARUM  SECUNDUM  POMPONIUM  MELAM  c.44p.Chr.) 
^01^  v;  ,, 


100 


From  Justus  Perthes,  Atlas  Antiquus 


101 


18.  Unexplored  ocean. — This  reflects  the  settled  belief  of 
the  Greeks  that  Africa  was  surrounded  by  the  ocean  and  could  be 
circumnavigated.  Herodotus  gives  an  account,  by  no  means  impossi- 
ble (IV,  42)  of  a Phoenician  expedition,  under  the  Pharaoh  Necho, 
which  did  so  about  600  B.  C.,  returning  to  Egypt  in  the  third  year  of 
their  journey.  Eratosthenes  and  Strabo  placed  the  southern  ocean 
immediately  below  Cape  Guardafui;  Pliny  thought  it  began  even  at 
“Mossylum”  west  of  Guardafui;  our  author  shifts  it  to  the  Zanzibar 
Channel,  and  Ptolemy  carried  it  as  far  as  the  Madagascar  Channel. 
The  actual  southern  extension  of  Africa  was  not  known  to  Europeans 
until  the  Portuguese  discoveries  in  the  15th  century.  The  Saracens 
seem  to  have  discovered  it  in  the  9th  or  10th  century,  but  their 
knowledge  did  not  reach  Europe.  The  Guinea  coast  was  known  in 
part  to  the  Carthaginians  and  Romans,  and  they  supposed  that  it 
continued  due  eastward  and  thus  joined  the  Indian  Ocean,  or  “Ery- 
thraean Sea.  ’ ’ 

The  current  ideas  of  geography  at  this  time  are  reflected  by  the 
accompanying  map  according  to  Pomponius  Mela,  about  44  A.  D. 
The  contribution  of  the  author  of  the  Periplus  was  to  establish  the 
southern  extension  of  both  Africa  and  India,  to  a distance  never  before 
understood  by  his  civilization. 

19.  To  the  left  . — This  section  begins  the  account  of  a second 
voyage,  from  Berenice  to  India. 

19.  White  Village  ( Leuke  Rome)  is  placed  by  most  commenta- 
tors at  El  Haura,  25°  7 N.,  37°  13"  E. , which  lies  in  a bay  protected 
by  Hasani  island.  The  name  Haura  also  means  “white,”  and  the 
Arab  name  itself  appears  as  Juara,  in  Ptolemy.  The  place  is  on  the 
regular  caravan  route  that  led,  and  still  leads,  from  Aden  to  the  Medi- 
terranean. 

The  words  “from  Mussel  Harbor,”  in  the  text,  are  probably 
there  only  through  an  error  in  copying.  The  distance  and  direction 
are  more  nearly  right  from  Berenice,  which  is  the  starting-point 
named  at  the  beginning  of  this  paragraph. 

19.  Petra  (30°  19’  N. , 35°  3E  E. ) lay  in  the  Wady  Musa, 
east  of  the  Wady-el-Araba,  the  great  valley  connecting  the  Dead  Sea 
with  the  Gulf  of  Akaba.  It  was  the  great  trading  center  of  the 
northern  Arabs,  and  the  junction  of  numerous  important  caravan- 
routes,  running  from  Yemen  northward,  and  from  the  Persian  Gulf 
eastward?  Thus  it  controlled  the  Eastern  trade  from  both  directions, 
and  held  its  advantage  until  the  results  of  Trajan’s  conquests  trans- 
ferred the  overland  trade  to  Palmyra;  the  sea-trade  having  been 
already  diverted  to  Alexandria. 


102 


The  district  of  Arabia  Petraea  has  its  name  from  this  city.  The 
native  name,  according  to  Josephus  {Ant.  Jud.  IV,  7,  1)  was  Rekem, 
referring  to  the  variegated  color  of  the  rocks  in  the  Wady  Musa. 
The  Biblical  name  was  Sela,  “a  city  of  Edom”  (2  Kings,  XIV,  7; 
Isaiah,  XVI,  1;  Judges,  I,  36).  Sela  (Arabic  Sal)  means  a “hollow 
between  rocks,”  and  Obadiah,  3,  apostrophizes  Edom  as  “thou  that 
dwellest  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks,  whose  habitation  is  on  high.  ” 
Strabo  (XVI,  IV,  21)  says  “Petra  is  situated  on  a spot  which  is  sur- 
rounded and  fortified  by  a smooth  and  level  rock,  which  externally  is 
abrupt  and  precipitous,  but  within  there  are  abundant  springs  of  water 
both  for  domestic  purposes  and  for  watering  gardens.  Beyond  the 
enclosure  the  country  is  for  the  most  part  a desert,  particularly  toward 
Judaea.  . . . Athenodorus,  my  friend,  who  had  been  at  Petra,  used 
to  relate  with  surprise,  that  he  found  many  Romans  and  also  many 
other  strangers  residing  there.” 

Ammianus  Marcellinus  (XIV,  8,  13)  describes  the  place  as  “full 
of  the  most  plenteous  variety  of  merchandise,  and  studded  with  strong 
forts  and  castles,  which  the  watchful  solicitude  of  its  ancient  inhabi- 
tants has  erected  in  suitable  defiles,  in  order  to  repress  the  inroads  of 
the  neighboring  nations.” 

The  topography  of  Petra  is  well  known  through  the  descriptions 
of  Flinders  Petrie  and  others.  It  was  a fertile  bit  of  valley  surrounded 
by  precipitous  cliffs,  with  a long,  narrow  and  winding  entrance,  and 
almost  impregnable.  It  seems  to  have  been,  first,  a place  of  refuge 
and  a safe  storehouse  for  the  myrrh,  frankincense,  silver,  etc.,  coming 
from  Yemen.  The  Biblical  references  show  it  as  an  Edomite  strong- 
hold; but,  being  abandoned  when  the  Edomites  entered  Palestine 
after  the  Babylonian  captivity,  it  was  taken  by  the  Nabataeans;  whom 
Josephus  makes  the  descendants  of  Nebaioth,  son  of  Ishmael,  while 
Glaser  and  others  see  rather  Nabatu,  an  Aramaic  tribe  noted  in  an 
inscription  of  Tiglathpileser  III  (745-727  B.  C.),  who  migrated  to 
the  valley  of  Edom  probably  in  the  6th  century  B.  C. 

Here  the  Nabataeans  were  at  first  nomadic  and  predatory,  inviting 
attack  by  land  from  Antigonus,  and  by  sea  on  the  Gulf  of  Akaba, 
from  the  Ptolemies  ( Agatharchides,  88;  Strabo,  XVI,  IV,  18). 
Soon,  however,  they  settled  down  to  orderly  commerce  and  prospered 
exceedingly,  as  the  ruins  of  Petra  testify.  One  may  suppose  that  a 
part,  at  least,  of  their  trouble  with  Syria  and  Egypt  was  due  to  their 
commercial  aggressiveness  rather  than  their  predatory  habits.  They 
fought  hard  to  maintain  and  control  the  caravan  trade  against  the 
competition  of  Egyptian  shipping.  In  their  dealings  with  Rome  they 
tried  to  carry  water  on  both  shoulders;  helping  Titus  against  Jeru- 


103 


Salem,  but  supporting  the  Parthians  against  Rome  as  occasion  offered. 
This  conflict  of  interests  was  terminated  in  105  A.  D.,  when  Trajan 
reduced  them  to  subjection  (Dio  Cassius,  LXVIII,  14).  After  that 
time  Petra  declined;  the  ship  of  the  desert  was  blanketed  by  the  ship 
of  the  sea;  and  when  the  overland  trade  revived,  toward  the  end  of 
the  2d  century,  it  was  Palmyra  which  reaped  the  advantage. 

19.  Malichas. — -The  mention  of  this  king  of  the  Nabataeans  is 
important  in  fixing  the  date  of  the  text.  Ordinarily  the  name  might 
be  accepted  as  a transcription  of  the  Arabic  word  malik — Hebrew 
melech , king,  wThich  appears  in  such  Hebrew  names  as  “Abimelech-  ’ 
and  “Melchizedek;  ” but  according  to  the  writings  of  Josephus,  who 
as  a Jew  would  have  been  likely  to  distinguish  between  the  name  and 
the  title,  there  were  kings  having  that  name  in  what  he  called  the 
“country  of  Arabia,”  which  was  certainly  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Nabataeans.  In  his  Antiquities  of  the  Jews  (XIV,  14,  1)  he  men- 
tions Malchus,  King  of  Arabia,  who  had  befriended  Herod  and 
who  had  loaned  him  money  just  before  his  case  was  taken  up  by 
Mark  Antony,  and  the  Roman  Senate  agreed  to  make  him  King  of 
the  Jews.  This  occurred  in  the  year  38  B.  C.  This  same  Mal- 
chus loaned  cavalry  to  Julius  Caesar  for  his  siege  of  Alexandria  (Aulus 
Hirtius,  Bell.  Alex. , I,  i) ; and  subsequently  sent  auxiliaries  to 
Pacorus,  the  Parthian  emperor,  for  which  Mark  Antony  compelled 
him  to  pay  an  indemnity. 

This  Malchus  can  not,  of  course,  be  the  one  mentioned  in  the 
Periplus.  But  Josephus  ( Jewish  War , III,  4,  2)  mentions  a King 
of  Arabia,  Malchus,  who  sent  a thousand  horsemen  and  five  thousand 
footmen  to  the  assistance  of  Titus  in  his  attack  upon  Jerusalem.  These 
events  were  in  the  year  70  A.  D.,  and  this  King  Malchus  can  hardly 
be  other  than  the  Malichas  mentioned  in  the  text.  See  also  Vogue, 
Syrie  Centrale,  who  quotes  inscriptions  of  this  Malichas  or  Malik,  and 
of  his  father  Aretas  Philodemus,  or  Hareth,  a contemporary  of  Tibe- 
rius and  Caligula. 

19.  Small  vessels  from  Arabia. — Strabo  (XVI,  IV,  24)  has 
the  following  account  of  this  trade ; 

“Merchandise  is  conveyed  from  Leuce  Come  to  Petra,  thence 
to  Rhinocolura  in  Phoenicia  near  Egypt,  and  thence  to  other  nations. 
But  at  present  the  greater  part  is  transported  by  the  Nile  to  Alexandria. 
It  is  brought  from  Arabia  and  India  to  Myos  Hormus,  and  is  then 
conveyed  on  camels  to  Coptus  of  the  Thebais,  situated  on  a canal  of 
the  Nile,  and  to  Alexandria.  ” 

The  policy  of  the  Ptolemies,  in  seeking  to  free  Egypt  from  com- 
mercial dependence  on  Yemen,  and  to  encourage  direct  communica- 


104 


tion  with  India,  had  been  continued  by  Rome  at  the  expense  of  the 
Arabs.  The  1 'small  vessels"  of  § 19  from  Muza  to  the  Nabataean 
port  are  to  be  contrasted  with  the  “large  vessels’’  of  § 10  that  traded 
from  Mosyllum  to  Egypt.  The  caravan  trade  could  not  be  reached 
in  the  same  way,  and  along  the  Red  Sea  the  camel  could  always  com- 
pete with  the  ship.  This  remained  in  Arabian  hands  for  another  half- 
century,  when  the  Emperor  Trajan  reduced  the  Nabataeans  to  sub- 
jection to  Rome. 

19.  Centurion. — Vincent  assumes  that  this  was  a Roman 
officer,  but  the  text  does  not  indicate  it.  At  this  time  the  kingdom 
of  the  Nabataeans  was  independent,  powerful  and  prosperous;  as  it 
might  well  have  been,  from  the  25  per  cent  duty  our  author  tells  us 
it  levied  on  the  rich  trade  between  Arabia  and  Rome. 

20.  Arabia. — Two  meanings  are  attached  to  this  word  in  the 
text;  in  this  § 20  and  in  § 49  it  refers  to  the  entire  peninsula;  in  every 
other  instance  it  means  Yemen,  the  Homerite-Sabaite  kingdom  as 
distinguished  from  the  other  kingdoms  and  political  divisions  of  the 
peninsula. 

20.  Differing  in  their  Speech. — In  the  north  the  Naba- 
taeans spoke  a dialect  of  the  Aramaic ; along  the  coast  the  “Carnaites" 
spoke  various  Ishmaelite  dialects,  out  of  which  has  grown  the  modern 
Arabic;  at  the  trading-posts  of  the  true  Minaeans,  their  own  lan- 
guage, allied  to  Hadramitic,  was  spoken;  on  reaching  Yemen,  the 
speech  was  Himyaritic. 

20.  Similarly,  that  is,  to  the  opposite  coast  below  Berenice, 
described  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  voyage,  in  § 2. 

20.  Rascally  men.  — Compare  the  observations  of  other 
writers  concerning  these  same  Beduin  robbers: 

“The  oxen  were  plowing,  and  the  asses  feeding  beside  them : 
and  the  Sabeans  fell  upon  them,  and  took  them  away;  yea,  they 
have  slain  the  servants  with  the  edge  of  the  sword.’  ’ (Job  I,  14-15. 
These  are  not  the  Sabasans  of  Yemen,  but  men  of  Saba  in  Central 
Arabia,  the  “nation  tall  and  smooth’’  of  Isaiah  XVIII.) 

“The  Beduins  have  reduced  robbery  in  all  its  branches  to  a 
complete  and  regular  system,  which  offers  many  interesting  details.’’ 
( Burckhardt.  ) 

“Before  we  lightly  condemn  the  robber  we  must  realize  his  sore 
need.  According  to  Doughty  and  other  travelers  three-fourths  of  the 
Beduins  of  northwest  Arabia  suffer  continual  famine.  In  the  long 
summer  drought  when  pastures  fail  and  the  gaunt  camel-herds  give 
no  milk  they  are  in  a very  sorry  plight;  then  it  is  that  the  housewife 
cooks  her  slender  mess  of  rice  secretly,  lest  some  would-be  guest 


105 


should  smell  the  pot.  The  hungry  gnawing  of  the  Arab’s  stomach  is 
lessened  by  the  coffee-cup  and  the  ceaseless  ‘tobacco-drinking’  from 
the  nomad’s  precious  pipe.”  t Zwemer,  Arabia  the  Cradle  of  Islam, 
p.  157.) 

Thou  shalt  call  his  name  Ishmael;  because  the  Lord  hath  heard 
thy  affliction.  And  he  will  be  a wild  man;  his  hand  will  be  against 
every  man,  and  every  man’s  hand  against  him;  and  he  shall  dwell  in 
the  presence  of  all  his  brethren.”  ( Gen.  XVI,  11-12.) 

20.  Carnaites. — These  wild  tribes  are  called  in  the  text  Can- 
raites,  which  cannot  be  identified  with  any  other  contemporary  record. 
Some  commentators  would  change  the  name  to  Cassanites;  and  Fabri- 
cius,  following  Sprenger,  substitutes  Cananites.  Glaser’s  suggestion  is 
certainly  preferable  ( Skizze,  165-6).  He  thinks  that  the  n and  r 
should  be  reversed,  making  Carnaites;  Kama  being  one  of  the  north- 
ern settlements  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  the  Minaeans,  to  which 
the  neighboring  Beduin  tribes  were  nominally  subject.  Pliny  (VI, 
32)  and  Ptolemy  both  mention  this  place  as  a city  of  the  Minaeans; 
whom  Pliny  describes  as  the  oldest  commercial  people  in  Arabia, 
having  a monopoly  in  the  trade  in  myrrh  and  frankincense,  through 
their  control  of  the  caravan-routes  from  the  producing  regions.  He 
refers  doubtfully  to  their  legend  of  the  relationship  of  Minaeans  and 
Rhadamaeans  to  Minos  of  Crete  and  his  brother  Rhadamanthus. 
Pliny  need  not  have  doubted,  and  is  to  be  thanked  for  preserving  this 
evidence  of  earl}7  Arabian  trade  in  the  Mediterranean.  Ptolemy  adds 
his  testimony  to  the  wide  extent  of  this  early  Arabian  trade,  when 
he  describes  the  “people  called  Rhamnae  who  dwelt  in  the  extreme 
east  near  the  banks  of  the  Purali,  and  who  planted  their  capital  at  a 
place  called  Rhambacia.  ’’  From  Crete  to  the  borders  of  India  was 
no  mean  sphere  of  activity.  Compare  Ezekiel  XXVII,  22:  “The 
merchants  of  Sheba  and  Raamah,  they  were  thy  merchants:  they 
occupied  in  thy  fairs  with  chief  of  all  spices,  and  with  all  precious 
stones,  and  gold.  ” 

Strabo  also  (XVI,  III,  1)  describes  “the  Minaei  in  the  part 
toward  the  Red  Sea,  whose  largest  city  is  Carna;  next  to  them  are  the 
Sabaeans,  whose  chief  city  is  Mariaba.  ’ ’ 

At  the  time  of  the  Periplus  the  term  “Minaean”  was  no  longer 
limited  to  the  southern  traders,  but  had  been  extended  to  include  the 
nomadic  Ishmaelites  over  whom  their  settlements  along  the  caravan- 
routes  exerted  a varying  measure  of  authority. 

The  Minaean  kingdom  had  long  since  lost  its  identity,  having 
been  conquered  by  the  Sabaeans.  When  Saba  fell  before  Himyar  its 
allegiance  was  transferred  likewise;  but  we  may  assume  that  at  the 


106 


date  of  the  Periplus  it  was  almost  independent.  When  the  Homerite 
dynasty  became  powerful,  it  asserted  its  authority  over  most  of  the 
Hejaz;  when  the  Abyssinians  conquered  Yemen  their  rule  was  not 
acknowledged  so  far  north.  The  insurgence  of  the  Ishmaelites  under 
the  spur  of  Islam  was  a logical  consequence  of  centuries  of  civil  war 
among  their  former  overlords  in  Yemen. 

20.  Burnt  Island  is  identified  by  Ritter  and  Muller  with  Jebel 
Tair,  15°  3 S'  N. , 41°  50'  E. ; a volcanic  island  in  the  direct  course 
from  Berenice  to  Muza.  Fabricius  prefers  Disan,  the  most  northerly 
of  the  Farsan  group,  16°  45'  N. , 41°  40’  E. ; but  this  location  is 
improbable,  as  being  out  of  the  course  “straight  down  the  middle  of 
the  gulf,”  and  in  the  midst  of  “foul  waters.” 

20.  Chiefs  and  Kings  of  Arabia. — The  turmoil  in  South 
Arabia  at  this  time  has  already  been  mentioned.  Within  a few  years 
the  Habashat  had  been  driven  to  Africa,  Kataban  and  Saba  had  suc- 
cumbed, and  Hadramaut  and  Himyar  remained.  The  Homerite 
dynasty  was  not  yet  firmly  established,  and  the  condition  of  the  country 
was  feudal,  each  tribe  enjoying  a large  measure  of  independence. 
Such  is  the  condition  here  described,  where  Mapharitis,  nominally 
Homerite,  levied  its  own  taxes  on  commerce,  and  maintained  its  own 
colonial  enterprise  in  Azania. 

21.  Muza,  mentioned  by  our  author  as  a seaport,  is  identified 
with  the  modern  Mocha  (13°  19'  N. , 43°  20’  E. ).  According  to 
Pliny  and  Ptolemy,  the  market-town  was  some  miles  inland,  probably 
at  the  modern  village  of  Mauza;  and  Pliny  distinguishes  the  seaport 
as  Masala.  Both  names  still  exist  (Glaser,  Skizze,  138-40;  168). 
In  the  Periplus  the  name  of  the  city  is,  apparently,  extended  to  include 
the  port. 

21.  Twelve  thousand  Stadia. — The  actual  distance  is  about 
800  miles  or  8000  stadia.  It  may  be  a mistake  in  the  text  (a  very 
easy  matter  with  Greek  numerals),  or,  as  Bunbury  suggests  ( History 
of  Ancient  Geography , II,  455)  our  author  may  have  calculated  the  dis- 
tance as  so  many  days’  sail  of  500  stadia  each.  No  calls  being  made 
on  the  coast,  contrary  winds  might  readily  cause  such  an  error  in  cal- 
culation. Where  no  instruments  existed  for  measuring  distances, 
estimates  would  necessarily  be  rather  general. 

21.  Sending  their  own  ships,— to  the  Somali  coast  and 
India  in  competition  with  the  Egyptian  Greeks;  down  the  east  Afri- 
can coast  to  their  own  possessions  (§  16)  where  they  doubtless  en- 
joyed special  privileges.  Foreign  shipping  was  unwelcome  at  Muza, 
which  preferred  to  supply  the  north-bound  caravans.  Roman  subjects, 
such  as  our  author,  had  to  pay  dearly,  in  the  form  of  gifts  to  the  rulers, 


107 


for  permission  to  trade  there;  Hindu  shipping  was  stopped  at  Ocelis 
(§  25). 

22.  Saua  is  identified  by  Sprenger  with  the  Sa’b  of  Ibn  Mogawir, 
(13°  N. , 44°  E. ).  Ritter  and  Muller,  following  Niebuhr,  prefer 
the  modern  Ta’  is  (13°  35'  N. , 43°  55’  E. ),  in  the  mountains  about 
40  miles  above  Mocha. 

22.  Mapharitis  is  the  country  of  the  Ma’afir,  a tribe  belonging 
to  the  Himyaritic  stock,  whose  chief  or  sheikh  had,  evidently,  especial 
privileges  from  his  “lawful  king”  (§  23)  Charibael.  Their  location 
was  in  the  southern  Tehama. 

22.  Cholaebus  is  the  Arabic  Kula’  ib. 

23.  Saphar,  mentioned  by  Arabian  geographers  as  Zafar,  is 
located  by  Niebuhr  about  100  miles  N.  E.  of  Mocha  on  the  road  to 
Sanaa,  near  the  modern  town  of  Yerim,  some  miles  southeast  of 
which,  on  the  summit  of  a circular  hill,  its  ruins  still  exist.  Zafar 
was  the  capital  of  the  Homerite  dynasty,  displacing  Marib,  that  of  the 
Sabaean,  Timna  of  the  Gebanite,  and  Carna  of  the  Minaean.  Here, 
in  the  4th  century  A.  D.,  a Christian  church  was  built,  following 
negotiations  between  the  Roman  Emperor  Constantius  and  the  Ho- 
merite King  Tubba  ibn  Hassan,  who  had  embraced  Judaism.  In  the 
6th  century  it  was  the  seat  of  a bishopric,  one  incumbent  of  which, 
St.  Gregentius,  resenting  a profanation  of  the  church  at  Sanaa  by  cer- 
tain of  the  Koreish,  inspired  the  Abyssinian  government,  then  ruling 
in  Yemen,  to  undertake  a disastrous  expedition  against  Mecca. 

23.  Charibael. — This  is  the  Arabic  Kariba-il,  and  means 
“God  blessed  (him).”  (Hommel,  The  Ancient  Hebrew  Tradition , 
p.  84. ) Glaser  has  shown  this  to  be  a royal  title,  rather  than  a name, 
and  has  edited  numerous  inscriptions  of  a king  named  Kariba-il  Watar 
Juhan’im  who  ruled  about  40-70  A.  D.,  and  whom  he  identifies  with 
this  Charibael.  {Die  Abessinier  in  Arabien  und  Afrika , pp.  37-8.) 

23.  Homerites  and  Sabaites. — Both  were  of  the  Joktanite 
race  of  South  Arabia,  the  former  being  the  younger  branch.  In  the 
tribal  genealogy  in  Genesis  X,  we  are  shown  their  relation  to  the 
Semites  of  the  North.  Three  of  the  children  of  Shem  are  given  as 
Elam,  Asshur,  and  Arphaxad.  Arphaxad’s  son  was  Salah,  and  his 
grandson  Eber.  These  names  are  associated  with  Babylonia  and 
Chaldaea.  Eber’s  second  son  was  Joktan,  of  which  the  Arabic  form 
is  Kahtan,  which  appears  farther  south  along  the  Persian  Gulf,  in  the 
peninsula  of  El  Katan.  Of  the  sons  of  Joktan,  most  are  identified 
with  the  southern  coast;  two  of  them  being  Hazarmaveth  (Hadra- 
maut),  and  Jerah  ( cf.  the  Jerakon  Rome  of  Ptolemy,  north  of  Dhofar). 
The  last-named  the  Arabs  call  Yarab:  his  son  was  Yashhab  ( cf. 


108 


the  Asabi  in  Oman,  § 35),  and  his  grandson  “Saba  the  Great”  (sur- 
named  Abd-es-Shems)  is  said  to  have  founded  the  city  of  Marib,  and 
to  have  begun  its  great  dam,  on  which  the  irrigation  of  the  vicinity 
depended.  The  Sabaeans  are  thus  connected  with  this  Saba,  a de- 
scendant of  Jerah,  and  not  with  Sheba,  son  of  Joktan,  who  is  referred 
rather  to  Central  Arabia;  whom  Glaser  and  Hommel  would  make  a 
colony  from  Yemen,  while  Weber  would  reverse  the  process,  having 
the  Sabaeans  migrate  southward  for  the  conquest  of  the  Minaeans. 

According  to  Arab  accounts  the  dam  at  Marib  was  finished  by  a cer- 
tain King  Zul  Karnain,  suggesting  the  primacy  of  the  Minaean  dynasty 
at  that  time;  but  from  about  the  7th  century  B.  C.  the  Sabaeans  were 
supreme  in  all  southern  Arabia,  controlling  the  caravan-routes,  and 
forcing  the  wild  tribes  into  caravan  service.  Colonies  and  resting- 
stations  were  established  at  intervals  along  the  routes.  We  learn  from 
the  Koran  (Chap.  XXXIV)  that  the  journey  was  easy  between  these 
cities,  and  travel  secure  by  night  or  by  day;  the  distances  being  so 
short  that  the  heat  of  the  day  might  be  passed  in  one,  and  the  night 
in  the  next,  so  that  provisions  need  not  be  carried.  The  number  of 
such  settlements  maybe  inferred  from  Strabo’ s statement  that  the  cara- 
vans took  seventy  days  between  Minaea  and  Aelana;  and  all  the  Greek 
and  Roman  writers,  from  Eratosthenes  to  Pliny,  testify  to  the  value 
of  the  trade,  the  wealth  of  those  who  controlled  it,  and  their  jealous 
hindrance  of  all  competition. 

The  entry  of  the  fleets  of  the  Ptolemies  into  the  Red  Sea,  and 
their  establishment  of  colonies  along  its  shores,  dealt  a hard  blow  to 
the  caravan-trade.  If  we  sift  fact  from  homily  in  the  same  chapter 
of  the  Koran,  we  find  that  the  result  was  abandonment  of  many 
of  the  caravan-stations,  and  a consequent  increase  in  the  cost  of 
camel-hire  and  of  the  provisions  which  now  had  to  be  carried;  im- 
poverishment, dispersion  and  rebellion  of  the  dwellers  in  the  stations, 
so  that  finally  “most  of  the  cities  which  were  between  Saba  and  Syria 
were  ruined  and  abandoned,”  and  a few  years  later  than  the  Periplus, 
Marib  itself,  stripped  of  its  revenues  and  unable  to  maintain  its  public 
works,  was  visited  with  an  inundation  which  carried  away  its  famous 
reservoir-dam,  making  the  city  uninhabitable  and  forcing  the  disper- 
sion of  its  people.  Many  of  them  seem  to  have  migrated  northward 
and  to  have  settled  in  the  country  southeast  of  Judaea,  founding  the 
kingdom  of  the  Ghassanids,  which  was  for  generations  a bulwark  of 
the  Roman  Empire  at  its  eastern  boundary. 

The  great  expedition  against  Sabaea  by  the  Romans  under  Aelius 
Gallus,  (Strabo,  XVI,  IV,  22-4;  Pliny,  VI,  32)  never  got  beyond 
the  valley  of  the  Minaeans;  turning  back  thence,  as  Vincent  surmised 


109 


(II,  306-311),  and  as  Glaser  proves  ( Skizze , 56-9),  without  reaching 
Marib,  and  probably  without  inflicting  any  lasting  injury  on  the  tribes 
along  their  route.  It  was  the  merchant-shipping  of  the  Romans,  and 
not  their  soldiery,  that  undermined  the  power  of  the  Sabaeans. 

As  the  wealth  of  Marib  declined,  its  power  was  resolved  into 
its  elements,  and  was  reorganized  by  a neighbor  of  the  same  blood. 
The  oldest  son  of  Saba  the  Great,  founder  of  Marib,  was  Himyar, 
whose  descendants  included  most  of  the  town-folk  of  the  southwest 
corner  of  Arabia.  Two  sons  of  Himyar,  Malik  and  Arib,  had  carried 
the  Joktanite  arms  back  toward  the  east  again,  subduing  the  earlier 
inhabitants  of  the  frankincense  region  north  of  Dhofar.  The  center 
of  the  tribe  was  at  Zafar,  southwest  of  Marib,  and  some  days’  journey 
nearer  the  sea.  Allied  with  the  sheikh  at  Zafar  was  he  of  the  Ma’afir, 
controlling  the  port  of  Muza.  This  combination  was  able  to  over- 
throw the  old  order,  Zafar  supplanting  Marib,  and  Muza  stripping  Aden 
of  its  trade  and  its  privileges  along  the  African  coast.  Thereafter  the 
Himyarite  dynasty — the  Homerite  kings — assumed  the  title  "Kings 
of  Saba  and  Raidan.”  This  was  during  the  first  century  B.  C. 

The  subsequent  policy  of  the  Kariba-ils  of  Zafar  was  to  expand 
both  north  and  east,  to  regain  the  old  supremacy  over  the  ‘ ‘Carnaites’  ’ 
along  the  caravan-routes,  and  to  control  the  shipping  from  the  east. 

(See  Prof.  D.  H.  Muller’s  article,  Yemen,  in  the  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,  9th  Edition;  Glaser,  Skizze  and  Die  Abessinier,  etc.  ; 
Weber,  Arabien  vor  dem  Islam  in  Der  alte  Orient,  III,  Leipzig,  1901; 
Prof.  Hommel’s  chapter,  Arabia,  in  Hilprecht,  Explorations  in  Bible 
Lands,  Phila. , 1903;  Hogarth,  The  Penetration  of  Arabia,  N.  Y., 
1904;  and  the  reports  of  the  Austrian  South-Arabian  Expedition.) 

23.  Embassies  and  gifts. — This  wooing  of  Yemen  by  Rome 
was  soon  ended.  It  was  no  part  of  the  Arab  policy,  whether  Ho- 
merite, Minaean,  or  Nabataean,  to  let  Rome  cultivate  direct  relations 
with  India,  and  as  the  empire  expanded  stronger  measures  were 
necessary.  Fifty  years  later  than  the  Periplus,  Trajan  had  captured 
Petra,  and  Abyssinia  was  being  subsidized  to  attack  Yemen. 

23.  A friend  of  the  Emperors. — Some  commentators  sup- 
pose that  this  refers  to  a time  when  two  Roman  emperors  ruled 
together,  thus  dating  the  Periplus  well  into  the  2d  century  A.  D.,  but 
there  is  nothing  in  the  text  to  require  it.  The  Homerite  king,  who 
began  to  rule,  probably,  in  the  last  days  of  Claudius,  was  simply, 
(in  the  mind  of  our  author,  writing  early  in  the  reign  of  Nero),  the 
friend  of  both  those  Roman  Emperors,  as  he  was  also  of  several  others 
whose  short  reigns  coincided  with  his.  A list  of  the  Emperors  of 
the  1st  and  2d  centuries  confirms  this  : 


no 


Roman 

Parthian 

B.C.  A.  D. 

B.C. 

39-  14 

Augustus  Caesar 

Phrases  IV 

37-  2 

A.  D. 

B.C.  A.  D. 

14-  37 

Tiberius 

Phraataces 

2-  ? 

37-  41 

Caligula 

Orcdes  II 

? 

41-  54 

Claudius 

Vonones  I 

?-  16 

54-  68 

Nero 

Artabanus  III 

16-  42 

68-  69 

Galba 

Vardanes 

42-  46 

69 

Otho 

Gotarzes 

46-  51 

69 

Vitellius 

Vonones  II 

51 

69-  79 

Vespasian 

Volagases  I 

51-  78 

79-  81 

Titus 

Pacorus 

78-108 

81-  96 

Domitian 

Chosroes 

108-130 

96-  98 

Nerva 

V olagases  II 

130-149 

98-117 

Trajan 

Volagases  III 

149-191 

117-138 

Hadrian 

Volagases  IV 

191-209 

138-161 

Antoninus  Pius 

disputed  succession : 

161-169 

f Marcus  Aurelius 
t Lucius  Verus 

Volagases  V ) 

Artabanus  III  > 

209-215 

169-180 

Marcus  Aurelius 

Artabanus  III 

215-226 

180-192 

Commodus 

(End  of  Parthian  Emp; 

193 

Pertinax 

193 

Didius  Julianus 

193-211 

Septimius  Severus 

211-212 

f Caracalla 

1 Geta 

212-217 

Caracalla 

217-218 

Macrinus 

218-222 

Heliogabalus 

222-235 

Alexander  Severus 

Two  Roman  Emperors  serving  together: 

Marcus  Aurelius,  Lucius  Verus — 161-169. 

Caracalla,  Geta — 211-212. 

Valerian,  Gallienus — 253-259. 

Diocletian,  Maximian — 286-305,  and  through  several  succeed- 
ing reigns. 

24.  Saffron  ( Crocus  sativus,  Linn.,  order  lridacece ). — The  part 
that  entered  into  trade  was  the  stamens  and  pistils  of  the  flower, 
which  were  used  medicinally,  as  a paint  or  dye,  a seasoning  in  cook- 
ery, and  a perfume  or  ingredient  of  ointments. 

As  a nerfume,  halls,  theatres  and  courts  were  strewed  with  the 


Ill 


plant,  and  it  entered  into  the  composition  of  many  spirituous  extracts, 
which  retained  the  same  scent.  (See  Pliny,  XIII,  2.) 

Lucan  ( Pharsalia , IX,  809)  refers  to  the  “sweet-smelling  essence 
of  saffron  that  issues  from  the  limbs  of  a statue. 

Saffron  also  entered  into  many  of  the  scented  salves  or  balsams. 
It  was  much  adulterated  by  adding  the  stigmata  of  other  plants,  such  as 
the  safflower  (Carthamus  tinctorius,  order  Composite) , and  the  marigold 
{Calendula  officinalis,  order  Composites). 

Pliny  (XXI,  81)  says,  “Saffron  is  blended  with  wine  or  water 
and  is  extremely  useful  in  medicine.  It  is  generally  kept  in  horn 
boxes.  Applied  with  egg  it  disperses  all  kinds  of  inflammations,  those 
of  the  eyes  in  particular;  it  is  employed  also  for  hysterical  suffoca- 
tions, and  for  ulcerations  of  the  stomach,  chest,  kidneys,  liver,  lungs, 
and  bladder.  It  is  particularly  useful  in  cases  of  inflammation  of  those 

parts,  and  for  cough  and  pleurisy The  flower  is  used  locally 

with  Cimolian  chalk  for  erysipelas.”  (See  also  Beckmann,  op.  cit., 
I,  175-7.) 

24.  Sweet  rush.— The  text  is  kyperos.  There  is  much  con- 
fusion among  the  Roman  writers  between  various  species  of  aromatic 
rush,  some  including  the  calamus  of  the  Hebrew  anointing  oil  (Exodus 
XXX),  which  was  probably  Acorus  calamus , Linn.,  order  Aroidea-,  a 
semi-aquatic  sub-tropical  herb,  useful  medicinally  and  as  a flavor. 
But  Pliny  (XIII,  2)  distinguishes  between  “Syrian  calamus”  and 
“Syrian  sweet-rush,”  both  components  of  the  Parthian  “regal  oint- 
ment;” so  that  sweet-rush  may  rather  have  been  Andropogon  schaenan- 
thus,  Linn. , order  Graminea.  An  account  of  its  production  is  given 
by  Pliny  (XII,  48),  and  of  its  medicinal  properties  (XXI,  70).  That 
most  highly  esteemed,  he  says,  came  from  near  the  temple  of  Jupiter 
Ammon  in  Egypt;  the  next  best  from  Rhodes.  It  had  an  odor  re- 
sembling that  of  nard;  and  aside  from  its  use  in  perfumes  and  oint- 
ments, it  was  employed  as  a diuretic,  and  with  wine  and  vinegar  for 
throat  ulcers,  or  in  liniments  for  ulcerous  sores  generally. 

It  is  possible,  also,  that  the  kyperos  of  the  text  may  have  been  the 
Egyptian  papyrus  ( Cyperus  papyrus , Linn.,  order  Cyperacece)  ; used, 
according  to  Pliny  (XIII,  21-2)  for  boat-building,  sails  and  mats, 
cloths,  coverlets  and  ropes,  and  the  roots  for  fuel.  He  notes  it  as  a 
product  of  Syria,  growing  in  conjunction  with  the  sweet  calamus,  and 
much  favored  by  King  Antiochus  for  cordage  for  his  navy,  instead  of 
spartum,  which  was  preferred  by  the  Romans.  Again  (XXXIII, 
30)  he  says  papyrus  was  used  for  smelting  copper  and  iron,  being 
favored  next  to  pine  wood. 


112 


The  suggestion  in  the  text  is,  however,  for  an  aromatic  rather 
than  cordage  or  fuel,  so  that  Andropogon  schaenanthus  is  the  more  prob- 
able identification. 

McCrindle’s  suggestions  of  turmeric  (Curcuma  longa,  Linn.,  order 
Z ingiberacece)  and  galangal  ( A Ip  ini  a ojficinarum,  Hance,  order  Z ingi- 
beracece) are  not  borne  out  by  Pliny’s  descriptions;  and  these  are  both 
products  of  the  Far  East,  while  the  text  indicates  an  Egyptian  or 
Mediterranean  product. 

24.  Fragrant  ointments. — Pliny  (XIII,  1)  says  that  “lux- 
ury thought  fit  to  mingle  all  known  fragrant  odors,  and  to  make  one 
single  odor  of  the  whole;  hence  the  invention  of  ointments.  The 
Persians  use  them  extensively,  and  they  quite  soak  themselves  in  it, 
and  so,  by  an  adventitious  recommendation,  counteract  the  bad  odors 
which  are  produced  by  dirt.” 

His  account  of  the  manufacture  of  ointments  (XIII,  2)  throws 
light  on  numerous  articles  of  trade  in  his  time.  There  were  two 
principal  components.  They  consisted  of  oils  or  juices,  and  solids: 
the  former  known  as  stymmata,  the  latter  as  hedysmata.  A third  ele- 
ment was  the  coloring  matter,  usually  cinnabar  or  alkanet.  Resin  and 
gum  were  added  to  fix  the  odor.  Among  the  stymmata  were  oil  of 
roses,  sweet-rush,  sweet  calamus,  xylo-balsamum,  myrtle,  cypress, 
mastich,  pomegranate-rind,  saffron  oil,  lilies,  fenugreek,  myrrh,  cassia, 
nard,  and  cinnamon.  The  hedysmata  included  amomum,  nard,  myrrh, 
balsam,  costus,  and  marjoram. 

Myrrh  used  by  itself,  without  oil,  formed  an  ointment,  but  it  was 
stacte  only  that  must  be  used,  for  otherwise  it  would  be  too  bitter. 

The  formula  of  the  “regal  ointment,”  made  for  the  Parthian 
Kings,  included  myrobalanus,  costus,  amomum,  cinnamon,  comacum, 
cardamom,  spikenard,  marum,  myrrh,  cassia,  storax,  ladanum,  opo- 
balsamum,  Syrian  calamus  and  Syrian  sweet-rush,  oenanthe,  malabath- 
rum,  serichatum,  cypress,  aspralathus,  panax,  saffron,  cypirus,  sweet 
marjoram,  lotus,  honey  and  wine. 

The  Mendesian  ointment  included  resin  and  myrrh,  oil  of  bala- 
nus,  metopion  (Egyptian  oil  of  bitter  almonds),  omphacium,  carda- 
mom, sweet-rush,  honey,  wine,  myrrh,  seed  of  balsamum,  galbanum, 
and  resin  of  terebinth. 

Another  included  oils  (the  common  kinds),  sampsuchum,  lilies, 
fenugreek,  myrrh,  cassia,  nard,  sweet-rush,  and  cinnamon. 

24.  Myrrh, — a gum  exuded  from  the  bark  of  a small  tree,  native 
in  South  Arabia,  and  to  some  extent  in  Oman,  and  the  Somali  coast 
of  Africa;  classified  as  Balsamodendron  Myrrha  (Nees),  or  Commiphora 
Abyssinica  (Engl.),  order  Burseracea.  It  forms  the  underwood  of 


113 


forests  of  acacia,  moringa,  and  euphorbia.  From  earliest  times  it  has 
been,  together  with  frankincense,  a constituent  of  incense,  perfumes, 
and  ointments.  It  was  an  ingredient  of  the  Hebrew  anointing  oil 
(Exod.  XXX),  and  was  also  one  of  the  numerous  components  of  the 
celebrated  kyphi  of  the  Egyptians,  a preparation  used  in  fumigations, 
medicine,  and  embalming.  It  was  the  object  of  numerous  trading 
expeditions  of  the  Egyptian  kings  to  the  “Land  of  Punt.  ” A monu- 
ment of  Sahure,  28th  century  B.  C.,  records  receipts  of  80,000 
measures  of  myrrh  from  Punt.  The  expedition  of  Hatshepsut  ( 1 5th 
century  B.  C.  ) again  records  myrrh  as  the  most  important  cargo;  its 
list  of  the  “marvels  of  the  country  of  Punt”  was  as  follows:  All 
goodly  fragrant  woods  of  God’s  Land,  heaps  of  myrrh-resin,  fresh 
myrrh  trees,  ebony,  pure  ivory,  green  gold  of  Emu,  cinnamon  wood, 
khesyt  wood,  ihmut  incense,  sonter  incense,  eye  cosmetic,  apes, 
monkeys,  dogs,  skins  of  southern  panther,  natives  and  their  children. 
The  inscription  adds:  “Never  was  brought  the  like  of  this  for  any 
king  who  has  been  since  the  beginning.  ’’  (Breasted,  Ancient  Records 
of  Egypt,  II,  109;  Fluckiger  and  Hanbury,  op.  cit-,  140-6.) 

Pliny  (XII,  35)  gives  a clear  account  of  the  gathering  of  the 
gum:  “Incisions  are  made  in  the  myrrh-tree  twice  a year,  and  at  the 
same  season  as  in  the  incense-tree;  but  in  the  case  of  the  myrrh-tree 
they  are  made  all  the  way  up  from  the  root  as  far  as  the  branches 
which  are  able  to  bear  it.  The  tree  spontaneously  exudes,  before  the 
incision  is  made,  a liquid  which  bears  the  name  of  stacte  ( sta%o , to 
drop  ) and  to  which  there  is  no  myrrh  that  is  superior.  Second  only 
in  quality  to  this  is  the  cultivated  myrrh;  of  the  wild  or  forest  kind, 
the  best  is  that  which  is  gathered  in  summer.” 

Stacte,  he  says,  sold  as  high  as  40  denarii  the  pound;  cultivated 
myrrh,  at  a maximum  of  11  denarii;  Erythraean  at  16,  and  odoraria 
at  14.  And  he  continues:  “They  give  no  tithes  of  myrrh  to  the  god, 
because  it  is  the  produce  of  other  countries  as  well;  but  the  growers 
pay  the  fourth  part  of  it  to  the  king  of  the  Gebanitae.  Myrrh  is 
bought  up  indiscriminately  by  the  common  people  and  then  packed 
into  bags;  but  our  perfumers  separate  it  without  any  difficulty,  the 
principal  tests  of  its  goodness  being  its  unctuousness  and  its  aromatic 
smell. 

“There  are  several  kinds  of  myrrh:  the  first  among  the  wild 
myrrhs  is  the  Troglodytic;  and  the  next  are  the  Minaean,  which  in- 
cludes the  aromatic,  and  that  of  Ausaritis,  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
Gebanitae.  A third  kind  is  the  Dianitic,  and  a fourth  is  the  mixed 
myrrh,  or  collatitia  ...  a fifth  again  is  the  Sambracenian,  which  is 
brought  from  a city  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Sabaei,  near  the  sea;  and  a 


114 


* 

sixth  is  known  by  the  name  of  Ausaritic.  There  is  a white  myrrh 
also  which  is  produced  in  only  one  spot,  and  is  carried  for  sale  to  the 
city  of  Messalum.”  (This  is  the  same  as  the  port  of  Masala  or 
Muza.  See  Glaser,  Skizze,  138.) 

The  name  myrrh  is  from  the  Hebrew  and  Arabic  mur,  meaning 
“bitter.”  The  ancient  Egyptian  word  was  bola  or  bal,  and  the  San- 
scrit was  vola.  The  modern  Persian  and  Indian  call  it  bol  or  bola. 

24.  Gebanite-Minaean  stacte. — The  text  is  corrupt,  having 
gabeirminaia : Muller  and  Fabricius  alter  this  to  “Abiraea  and  Minaea,  ” 
which  appear  in  Sprenger’s  map  of  Arabia,  but  not  in  the  myrrh  dis- 
trict. Stacte  has  already  been  described  as  the  gum  yielded  by  natural 
exudation  from  wild  trees,  as  distinguished  from  that  coming  from 
incisions  on  trees  either  wild  or  cultivated;  while  the  qualifying  ad- 
jective can  hardly  be  other  than  Gebanite-Minaean,  which  was  among 
the  best  varieties  in  Pliny’s  classification.  (See  also  Glaser,  Skizze, 
88-9. ) 

24.  Alabaster.  Pliny  (XIII,  3),  says,  ‘ ^Ointments  keep  best 
in  boxes  of  alabaster,  and  perfumes  when  mixed  with  oil,  which  con- 
duces all  the  more  to  their  durability  the  thicker  it  is,  such  as  the  oil 
of  almonds,  for  instance.  Ointments,  too,  improve  with  age;  but 
the  sun  is  apt  to  spoil  them,  for  which  reason  they  are  usually  stowed 
away  in  a shady  place  in  vessels  of  lead.”  (See  also  Pliny,  XXXVI, 
12;  Mark,  XIV,  7;  John,  XII,  3.) 

24.  Avalites  and  the  far-side  coast.— The  text  is  corrupt, 
having  Adulis ; Fabricius  translates  “aus  dem  gegeniiber  gelegenen 
Adulis.  ” But  Adulis  was  not  opposite  Muza,  its  exports  were  quite 
different,  and  it  is  not  mentioned  that  they  went  to  Muza.  The  rela- 
tions of  Habash  and  Himyar,  at  the  date  of  the  Periplus,  were  not 
those  of  friendly  commerce,  and  Adulis  was  distinctly  an  Egyptian 
trading-station.  On  the  other  hand,  the  text  describes,  in  § 7,  the 
articles  carried  by  the  Berbers  from  Avalites  to  Ocelis  and  Muza  for 
sale  there;  to  which  this  passage  refers  as  “already  mentioned.” 
We  must  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  scribe  copied  “Adulis” 
instead  of  “Avalites,”  which  was  what  our  author  wrote. 

25.  A narrow  Strait. — This  is,  of  course,  the  strait  of  Bab- 
el-Mandeb,  or  “Gate  of  Tears”  (12°  35'  N. , 43°  12’ E. ),  so  called 
because  of  its  treacherous  winds  and  currents. 

25.  The  island  Diodorus  is  the  modern  Perim  (12°  38'  N. , 
43°  18'  E.). 

25.  Ocelis  is  the  Acila  of  Strabo,  Artemidorus  and  Pliny;  the 
name  surviving  in  the  modern  Celia.  Forster  traces  in  this  name  the 


115 


tribe  of  Uzal,  son  of  Joktan  (Genesis  X,  27)  with  whom  he  also 
connects  Ausar  (Ausal  or  Ausan ) in  the  Frankincense  Country — 
which  survives  in  the  modern  Ras  el  Sair.  This  is  the  district  which 
at  one  time  held  the  “Ausanitic  coast”  near  Zanzibar,  as  stated  in 
§15.  The  ancient  city  of  Uzal  is  the  modern  Sanaa. 

Ocelis  is  identified  by  Glaser  with  a bay  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  promontory  of  Sheikh  Sa’ id  (12°  48'  N. , 43°  28’  E. ),  a volcanic 
formation  which  juts  out  from  the  Arabian  shore  and  is  separated  by 
a narrow  channel  from  the  island  of  Perim.  He  notes  the  probability 
that  Indian  ships  were  permitted  to  go  no  further  than  this  place, 
whence  their  cargoes  went  by  land  to  Muza.  The  text  says  merely 
that  it  was  “not  a market-town,  but  the  first  landing  for  those  sailing 
into  the  gulf;”  but  Pliny  (VI,  104)  states  on  the  authority  of  Onesi- 
critus,  that  Ocelis  was  the  most  convenient  port  for  those  coming 
from  India.  He  mentions  two  other  ports,  Muza  (Masala)  and 
Cana,  which  were  not  frequented  by  Indian  travellers,  but  were  only 
for  the  merchants  dealing  in  frankincense  and  Arabian  spices. 

26.  Eudaemon  Arabia  is  the  modern  Aden  (12°  48'  N., 
45°  0'  E. ),  from  very  early  times  an  important  trade  center,  where 
goods  from  the  east  were  trans-shipped  for  the  Mediterranean  markets. 
It  was,  probably,  the  Eden  of  Ezekiel  XXVII,  3,  and  the  chief  port 
of  the  Minaean  and  Sabaean  dynasties.  While  temporarily  in  eclipse 
under  the  Homerite  kings,  it  had  regained  its  position  by  the  4th  cen- 
tury A.  D.  when  Constantius  negotiated  for  a church  to  be  built  there; 
and  the  Arabian  geographers  and  Marco  Polo  refer  to  its  activities  in 
terms  almost  as  glowing  as  those  of  Agatharchides. 

The  Periplus  gives  the  port  the  name  of  the  entire  district; 
Eudeemon  like  Felix , being  an  attempt  at  translating  Yemen , 1 ‘the  country 
to  the  right  hand’  ’ (as  one  faces  the  east)  ; the  Arabic,  like  the  Greek 
and  Latin,  attaching  the  idea  of  good  fortune  to  the  right  hand.  Eden 
had  the  same  significance,  of  good  fortune. 

26.  Charibael  destroyed  the  place. — The  text  is  corrupt, 
having  Casar.  It  is  quite  certain  that  no  Roman  emperor  attacked 
this  place  during  the  1st  century,  and  the  title  is  equally  suspicious, 
our  author  having  more  correctly  referred  to  his  sovereign,  in  § 23, 
as  autokrator.  Muller  and  Fabricius  substitute  Elisar,  retaining  the 
second  syllable  of  the  word,  and  suppose  him  to  have  been  a king  of 
the  Frankincense  Country.  But  Schwanbeck  ( Rheinischen  Museum 
fur  Philo  logic,  VII.  Jahrgang,  1850)  prefers  Charibael , and  Glaser  sup- 
ports him  by  proving  that  Eleazus,  and  not  Elisar,  was  the  name  of 
the  king  mentioned  in  § 27. 

The  indications  are  against  a westward  movement  by  the  mon- 


116 


arch  at  Sabbatha;  his  outlook  was  in  the  other  direction.  The  Peri- 
plus  indicates  his  control  of  the  fertile  frankincense  valleys  far  beyond 
the  account  of  Strabo,  who  knew  Chatramotitis  as  a producer  of  myrrh 
only;  this  movement  followed  the  Habash  migration.  The  Chatra- 
motitae  had,  it  is  true,  to  cope  with  an  alliance  of  Homerites  and  Per- 
sians which  ultimately  pressed  them  on  either  side  and  engulfed  them; 
but  this  was  in  a later  century.  Saphar  and  Sabbatha  were  not  yet 
beyond  the  period  of  expansion  within  their  respective  spheres. 
From  the  Red  Sea  to  the  summits  of  the  Arabian  Alps  was  that  of  the 
former;  the  Wadi  Hadramaut,  on  the  eastern  slope,  that  of  the  latter. 
Between  the  two  lay  precipitous  mountains.  Topography  and  history 
alike  discredit  an  attack  upon  Aden  by  the  Chatramotitae. 

But  in  the  alliance  of  Muza  with  Saphar  we  have  the  motive  for 
the  destruction  of  Aden.  The  foreign  trade  was  centered  at  the 
Homerite  port,  and  Cholaebus  gained  for  his  merchants  the  rights 
which  those  of  Aden  had  enjoyed  under  the  Sabaean  kings.  The  loss 
was  not  great;  Ibn  Khaldun  (Kay’s  edition,  p.  158)  tells  us  that  the 
city  was  built  mostly  of  reeds,  so  that  conflagrations  by  night  were 
common  there.  It  involved  hardly  more  than  the  discontinuance  of 
an  annual  fair,  as  described  in  the  account  by  Lieut.  Cruttenden  at 
Berbera,  quoted  under  § 14. 

27.  Cana  may  be  identified  with  Hisn  Ghorab  (14°  10'  N. , 
48°  20'  E.),  a fine  harbor,  protected  from  all  winds  by  projecting 
capes  on  either  side  and  by  islands  in  the  offing,  as  described  in  the 
text.  Here  are  numerous  ruins  and  one  famous  Himyaritic  inscrip- 
tion, of  which  a version  is  given  by  Forster.  The  “Island  of  Birds” 
is  described  by  Muller  as  450  feet  high,  covered  with  guano,  and  thus 
has  its  name  from  the  same  cause  as  the  promontory  Hisn  Ghorab 
(Raven  Castle).  The  modern  town  is  called  Bir  Ali. 

Fabricius  (pp.  141-2),  following  Sprenger  and  Ritter,  locates 
Cana  slightly  farther  west,  at  Ba-l-Haf.  This  seems  not  to  accord 
with  the  text,  which  says  the  port  was  “just  beyond  the  cape  pro- 
jecting from  this  bay, ” while  Ba-l-Haf  would  be  “just  before.”  The 
identification  depends  too  literally  on  the  stated  distance  of  the  islands 
and  fails  to  take  into  account  that  they  are  described  as  “facing  the 
port.”  This  is  true  of  Hisn  Ghorab  and  not  of  Ba-l-Haf. 

Muller  (p.  278)  and  Glaser  (SAizze,  pp.  174-5)  support  the 
Hisn  Ghorab  location  by  comparison  of  the  distances  given  by  Ptolemy 
(YI,  7,  10)  between  his  Kanr  emporion  and  the  neighboring  ports. 

From  Hisn  Ghorab  the  way  to  the  interior  leads  up  the  Wadi 
Maifa,  which  empties  into  the  ocean  a short  distance  to  the  east. 


117 


The  Cana  of  the  Periplus  is  probably  the  same  as  the  Canneh  of 
Ezekiel  XXVII,  23. 

The  trade  which  it  formerly  enjoyed  passes  now  through  the  port 
of  Makalla,  some  distance  to  the  east,  and  the  capital  of  the  country 
has  shifted  in  like  manner  eastward  to  the  modern  city  of  Shibam. 

27.  Eleazus,  King  of  the  Frankincense  Country. — This 
is  the  Arabic  Ili-azzu,  “my  God  is  mighty,”  a name  which  Glaser 
shows  to  have  belonged  to  several  kings  of  the  Hadramaut;  and  this 
Eleazus  he  identifies  with  Ili-azzu  Jalit,  of  whose  reign,  dating  about 
25-65  A.  D.,  he  gives  an  inscription  (Die  jibes  sinter,  34,  etc.). 

The  name  given  the  kingdom,  “Frankincense  Country,”  is 
notable,  being  a translation  of  the  “Incense-Land”  of  the  Habashat, 
or  Aethiopians,  already  mentioned.  This  ancient  object  of  contention 
among  the  nations  was  now  divided  between  Hadramaut  and  Parthia, 
and  its  name  was,  apparently,  assumed  by  the  king  of  the  Hadramaut; 
perhaps  officially,  but  certainly  by  the  popular  voice,  and  by  merchants 
such  as  the  author  of  the  Periplus,  interested  in  the  product  of  the 
country  and  not  in  its  politics. 

A glance  at  the  topography  of  this  Incense-Land  will  help  toward 
an  understanding  of  its  dealings  with  its  neighbors.  The  southern 
coast  of  Arabia  from  Bab  el  Mandeb  to  Ras  el  Hadd  has  a length  of 
about  1200  miles,  divided  almost  equally  in  climatic  conditions.  The 
western  half  is  largely  sandstone  bluff,  sun-scorched  and  arid;  cut, 
however,  by  occasional  ravines  which  bring  down  scanty  rains  during 
the  monsoon  to  fertilize  a broad  strip  of  coast  plain.  On  the  western 
edge  the  mountains  of  Yemen,  rising  above  10,000  feet,  attract  a 
good  rainfall  which  waters  the  western  slope  toward  the  Red  Sea. 
On  the  eastern  slope  the  water-courses  are  soon  lost  in  the  sand, 
but  on  the  upper  levels  the  valleys  are  protected  and  fertile.  Such 
were  the  Nejran,  the  Minaean  Jauf,  and  the  valley  of  the  Sabaeans, 
which  last  was  made  rich  by  the  great  dam  that  stored  its  waters  for 
irrigation;  and  these  three  valleys,  the  centers  of  caravan-trade  bound 
north  toward  the  Nile  and  Euphrates,  owed  their  prosperity  mainly  to 
their  position  above  the  greatest  of  all  the  east-flowing  courses,  the 
Valley  of  Hadramaut.  This  great  cleft  in  the  sandstone  rock,  (origin- 
ally, Bent  believes  an  arm  of  the  sea,  now  silted  up),  which  gathers 
the  streams  from  the  highest  peaks,  runs  parallel  with  the  coast 
for  more  than  200  miles,  fertile  and  productive  for  nearly  the  entire 
distance;  then  it  turns  to  the  south  and  its  waters  are  lost,  the  mouth 
of  the  valley  being  desert  like  the  cliffs  that  line  its  course.  This  was 
one  of  the  best  frankincense  districts. 

Beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Wadi  Hadramaut  L Ras  Fa:tak,  nearly 


118 


north  of  Cape  Guardafui.  Here  the  climate  changes;  the  monsoon, 
no  longer  checked  by  the  African  coast,  leaves  its  effect  on  the  coastal 
hills,  which  gradually  rise  above  4000  feet,  clothed  with  tropical 
vegetation ; while  the  coast  plains  are  narrow  and  broken.  The  north- 
ern slopes  of  these  mountains  (known  to  our  author  as  Asich,  § 33) 
feed  the  water-course  now  known  as  the  Wadi  Rekot,  about  100  miles 
long,  which  empties  into  the  Kuria  Muria  Bay;  beyond  which  are 
fertile  coast  plains  as  far  as  Ras  el  Hadd.  These  mountains,  and 
the  Dhofar  and  Jenaba  districts,  facing  which  lie  the  Kuria  Muria 
islands,  were  the  oldest  and  perhaps  the  most  productive  of  the  frank- 
incense districts  of  Arabia;  and  it  was  always  the  ambition  of  the 
various  powers  of  that  region  to  extend  their  rule  so  as  to  include  the 
Dhofar  mountains,  the  Hadramaut  valley,  and  the  opposite  Somali 
coast  of  Africa — thus  controlling  the  production  and  commanding  the 
price;  in  short,  forming  a “frankincense  trust.”  The  restricted  area 
of  the  Arabian  incense-lands,  bordered  as  they  were  by  the  steppe  and 
the  desert,  made  them  constantly  subject  to  attack  and  control  by 
different  wandering  tribes;  while  at  the  same  time  their  local  con- 
ditions, of  intensive  cultivation  of  a controlled  product  of  great  and 
constant  value,  made  for  a peculiarly  ordered  state  of  society — for  a 
development  of  caste  unusual  in  Semitic  lands,  and  in  which  the  cul- 
tivator, the  warrior,  and  the  privileged  slave,  had  their  place  in  the 
order  given. 

Of  the  age-long  struggle  for  control  of  these  sacred  lands  we 
know  today  little  more  than  the  Greek  writers  of  two  thousand  years 
ago.  The  modern  world  takes  its  little  supply  of  frankincense  from 
the  Arab  vessels  that  carry  it  to  Bombay  or  Aden;  its  armies  are  sent 
to  the  conquest  or  defence  of  lands  in  other  lines  of  productivity — of 
a Kimberley,  a Witwatersrand,  a Manchuria.  But  to  the  ancient 
world  the  Incense-Land  was  a true  Eldorado,  sought  by  the  great 
empires  and  fought  for  by  every  Arab  tribe  that  managed  to  enrich 
itself  by  trading  incense  for  temple-service  on  the  Nile  or  Euphrates, 
on  Mount  Zion,  or  in  Persia,  India,  or  China.  The  archaeological 
expedition  that  shall  finally  succeed  in  penetrating  these  forbidden 
regions,  and  recovering  the  records  of  their  past,  cannot  fail  to  add 
greatly  to  our  store  of  knowledge  of  the  surrounding  civilizations,  by 
showing  the  complement  to  such  records  as  those  of  Hatshepsut  in 
Egypt  and  Tiglath-Pileser  III  in  Assyria,  and  by  giving  the  groundwork 
for  the  treasured  scraps  of  information  preserved  by  Herodotus,  Theo- 
phrastus, Eratosthenes,  Agatharchides,  Strabo,  Pliny,  and  Ptolemy. 
At  present  we  must  be  satisfied  with  such  knowledge  of  the  Incense- 
Land  as  may  be  had  from  these,  and  from  inscriptions  found  by 


119 


t 

Halevy  and  Glaser  in  the  homes  of  its  neighbors,  the  Minaeans  and 
Sabaeans. 

During  the  2d  and  1st  centuries  B.  C.,  the  greater  part  of  the 
Incense-Land  was  held  by  the  Incense-People,  the  Aethiopians  or 
Habashat.  Pressure  by  the  Parthians  on  the  East  forced  an  alliance, 
of  which  Glaser  found  the  record  at  Marib,  between  the  Habashat, 
Hadramaut  and  Saba  on  one  hand,  against  Himyar  and  Raidan  on  the 
other.  This  was  not  far  from  50  B.  C.  Soon  afterwards  we  find 
the  Habashat  gone  into  their  African  outposts,  and  Marib  ruled  by 
“Kings  of  Saba  and  Raidan;”  while  after  a couple  of  generations 
more  the  Periplus  shows  us  a Homerite  king  who  rules  also  over  Saba 
and  Raidan  and  the  East  African  coast;  and  a king  of  the  Hadramaut 
whose  title  is  expanded  to  “King  of  the  Frankincense  Country,”  and 
whose  rule  extends  over  the  islands  of  Kuria  Muria,  Socotra  and 
Masira,  all  former  dependencies  of  the  Habashat. 

By  the  4th  century  A.  D.  the  kings  at  Zafar  had  absorbed  the 
whole,  being  known  as  “Kings  of  Saba,  Raidan,  Hadramaut  and  Yem- 
en;” while  the  Abyssinian  kings,  who  regained  a foothold  in  Arabia 
during  that  century,  were  known  as  “Kings  of  Axum,  Himyar,  Rai- 
dan, Habashat,  Saba,”  etc. 

The  name  “Hadramaut,”  the  Hazarmaveth  of  Genesis  X,  means 
“Enclosure  of  Death,”  referring  probably  to  the  crater  of  Bir  Barhut, 
whose  rumblings  were  held  to  be  the  groans  of  lost  souls  (W.  Rob- 
ertson Smith  : Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  1 34,  and  authorities  there  quoted  ) . 

(See  Wellsted:  Narrative  of  a Journey  to  the  Ruins  of  Nakeb  el 
Hajar,  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  VII,  20;  H.  von 
Maltzan:  Reisen  in  Arabien,  Braunschweig,  1873;  L.  W.  C.  Van  den 
Berg:  Le  Hadramaut  et  les  Colonies  A rabes  dans  l’ A rchipel  Indien,  Ba- 
tavia, 1886;  J.  Theodore  Bent:  The  Hadramaut,  a Journey,  Nine- 
teenth Century,  1894;  Expedition  to  the  Hadramaut,  Geographical 
Journal,  IV,  313;  L.  Hirsch:  Reisen  in  Siid-Arabien,  Mahra-Land 
und  Hadhramut,  Leiden,  1897;  the  works  already  cited  of  Glaser, 
Hommel,  Weber,  Hogarth,  and  Zwemer;  and  the  Austrian  Expedi- 
tion Reports. ) 

27.  Sabbatha. — The  native  name  of  this  capital  of  the  Chatra- 
motitae  was  Shabwa.  It  lies  in  the  Wadi  Rakhiya,  some  distance 
above  the  W adi  Hadramaut,  and  about  60  miles  west  of  the  present 
capital,  Shibam.  According  to  Bent  ( Geographical  Journal,  IV,  413: 
1894)  it  is  now  deserted,  save  for  a few  Beduins,  who  work  the  salt 
mines  in  the  vicinity;  while  the  natives  are  now  all  in  the  lower 
Hadramaut  valley. 


120 


This  is  the  Sabota  of  Pliny  (VI,  32)  “with  sixty  temples  within 
its  walls.” 

27.  Frankincense,  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  precious 
articles  of  commerce,  is  a resin  exuded  from  various  species  of  Bos- 
ivellia,  order  Burseracew,  native  in  Somaliland  and  South  Arabia. 
Birdwood  (Trans.  Linn.  Soc.,  XXVII,  1871),  distinguishes  particu- 
larly B.  Frereana,  B.  Bhau-Dajiana  (the  mocrotu  of  § 9),  and  B.  Car- 
ter'll, the  last-named  yielding  the  best  incense.  B.  thurifera , native  in 
India,  yields  a resin  of  less  fragrance,  much  used  as  an  adulterant. 
Frankincense  is  thus  closely  allied  to  myrrh,  bdellium,  and  benzoin. 

The  Greek  word  is  libanos , from  Hebrew  lebonah,  Arabic  luban, 
meaning  “white”;  cf  laben , the  Somali  word  for  cream,  and  “milk- 
perfume,  ” which  is  the  Chinese  term  for  frankincense.  Marco  Polo 
always  calls  it  “white  incense.’’ 

Another  Hebrew  name  was  shekheleth,  Ethiopic  sekhin,  which 
Hommel  would  connect  with  the  “Bay  of  Sachalites’  ’ of  § 29. 


f ffM,  T.T'Ae 

MM 

j 


m Fir 

*•  - J&S'TsJ&Oi  t Jti 

Vint  r v_”V// 


Frankincense  trees,  from  the  Punt  Reliefs  in  the  Deir  el  Bahri  temple  at  Thebes; 
dating  from  the  15th  century  B.  C.  After  Naville. 

The  inscriptions  of  the  early  Egyptian  dynasties  contain,  as  we 
might  expect,  few  references  to  the  trade  in  incense,  which  was 
brought  overland  to  the  upper  Nile  by  the  “people  of  Punt  and  God’s 
Land’  ’ and  not  sought  out  by  the  Pharaohs.  That  incense  was  in 
use  is  sufficiently  clear  from  the  early  ritual.  The  expedition  to  the 


121 


Incense-Land  under  Sahure,  in  the  Vth  dynasty  (28th  century  B.  C.) 
was  a notable  exception.  In  the  Vlth  dynasty,  under  Pepi  II  (26th 
century  B.  C.),  a royal  officer  Sebni,  sent  to  the  Tigre  highlands, 
records  how  'he  “descended  to  Wawat  and  Uthek,  and  sent  on  the 
royal  attendant  Iri,  with  two  others,  bearing  incense,  clothing  (probably 
cotton),  one  tusk,  and  one  hide”  (as  specimens).  In  the  Xlth  dy- 
nasty, under  Mentuhotep  IV  (21st  century  B.  C.),  a record  of  the 
completion  of  a royal  sarcophagus  states  that  “Cattle  were  slaugh- 
tered, goats  were  slain,  incense  was  put  on  the  fire.  Behold,  an  army 
of  3000  sailors  of  the  nomes  of  the  Northland  (Delta  of  the  Nile) 
followed  it  in  safety  to  Egypt.”  And  in  the  Xllth  dynasty,  under 
Amenemhet  I (20th  century  B.  C.),  another  royal  officer  named  Intef 
was  sent  for  stone  to  Hammamat  along  what  was,  in  the  time  of  the 
Periplus,  the  caravan-route  from  Coptos  to  Berenice.  He  sought 
for  it  eight  days  without  success,  then  prostrated  himself  “to  Min,  to 

Mut,  to Great-in-Magic,  and  all  the  gods  of  this  highland,  giving 

to  them  incense  upon  the  fire.  . . . Then  all  scattered  in  search, 
and  1 found  it,  and  the  entire  army  was  praising,  it  rejoiced  with  obei- 
sance; I gave  praise  to  Montu.  ” 

Then  followed  a period  of  disorder  and  Arabian  domination  in 
Egypt,  during  which  Arab  merchants  controlled  the  trade.  This  was 
the  condition  described  in  Genesis  XXXV  II,  25,  when  “a  traveling 
company  of  Ishmaelites  came  from  Gilead,  with  their  camels  bearing 
spicery  and  balm  and  myrrh,  going  to  carry  it  down  to  Egypt.’’  It 
was  ended  by  a native  reaction  under  the  great  Pharaohs  of  the 
XVIIIth  or  Theban  dynasty,  under  whom  the  land  increased  in  power  in 
all  directions.  These  monarchs  were  not  content  to  remain  in  com- 
mercial dependence  upon  Arabia,  but  organized  great  fleets  which  went 
to  the  “Land  of  Punt”  each  season  and  brought  back  unprecedented 
treasure.  This  land  in  former  times,  according  to  the  Deir  el  Bahri 
reliefs,  “the  people  knew  not;  it  was  heard  of  from  mouth  to  mouth 
by  hearsay  of  the  ancestors.  The  marvels  brought  thence  under  thy 
fathers,  the  kings  of  Lower  Egypt,  were  brought  from  one  to  another, 
and  since  the  time  of  the  ancestors  of  the  kings  of  Tapper  Egypt,  who 
were  of  old,  as  a return  for  many  payments;  none  reaching  them 
except  thy  carriers.  ” But  Amon-Re,  so  the  inscription  continues, 
led  the  Egyptian  army  by  land  and  sea,  until  it  came  to  the  Incense- 
Land,  and  brought  back  great  store  of  myrrh,  ebony  and  ivory,  gold, 
cinnamon,  incense,  eye-paint,  apes,  monkeys,  dogs,  panther-skins, 
natives  and  their  children.  “Never  was  brought  the  like  of  this  for 
any  king  who  has  been  since  the  beginning.”  Incense-trees  were 
planted  in  the  court  of  the  temple;  “heaven  and  earth  are  flooded 


122 


with  incense;  odors  are  in  the  Great  House,”  and  the  heart  of  Amon 
was  made  glad. 

1 hen  followed  a series  of  campaigns  in  Syria,  resulting  in  the 
submission  of  that  country,  and  annual  remittances  of  great  quantities 
of  Arabian  and  Eastern  treasure — incense,  oil,  grain,  wine,  gold  and 
silver,  precious  stones — while  even  the  “Chief  of  Shinar”  at  Babylon 
sent  gifts  of  lapis  lazuli,  and  the  “Genabti”  of  the  Incense-Land 
came  direct,  offering  their  tribute.  The  sudden  opulence  of  the 
Theban  dynasty  made  possible  a great  enrichment  in  the  worship  of 
Amon,  and  the  setting  aside  of  enormous  endowments  for  the  tem- 
ples, as  well  as  annual  gifts  of  princely  value.  So  Rameses  II,  of  the 
XIXth  dynasty  (1292-1225  B.  C.),  “founded  for  his  father  offerings 
for  his  ka — wine,  incense,  all  fruit,  cultivated  trees,  growing  for  him;” 
while  the  court  responded  that  Rameses  himself  was  “the  god  of  all 
people,  that  they  may  awake,  to  give  to  thee  incense/'  His  successor 
Merneptah  was  bidden  by  the  All-Lord  to  “set  free  multitudes  who 
are  bound  in  every  district,  to  give  offerings  to  the  temples,  to  send 
in  incense  before  the  god.”  And  in  the  XXth  dynasty,  under  Ra- 
meses III  (1198-1167  B.  C.),  it  seemed  as  if  the  resources  of  the 
nation  were  poured  bodily  into  the  lap  of  Amon.  The  god  opened 
for  the  Pharaoh  “the  ways  of  Punt,  with  myrrh  and  incense  for  thy 
sefpent  diadem;”  “the  Sand-Dwellers  came  bowing  down  to  thy 
name  ” And  in  the  Papyrus  Harris,  that  great  record  of  his  gifts  and 
endowments  to  Amon,  compiled  for  his  tomb,  there  are  such  entries 
every  year  as  “gold,  silver,  lapis  lazuli,  malachite,  precious  stones, 
copper,  garments  of  royal  linen,  jars,  fowl;  myrrh,  21,140  deben, 
white  incense  2,159  jars,  cinnamon  246  measures,  incense  304,093 
various  measures;”  stored  of  necessity,  in  a special  “Incense  House.’  ’ 

(The  quotations  are  from  Breasted,  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt . ) 

At  this  time  the  Hebrews  ended  their  servitude  in  Egypt  and 
migrated  to  Palestine;  and  naturally  among  them  also  frankincense 
was  counted  holy.  The  sacred  incense  of  the  priests  (Exod.  XXX, 
34_5)  was  composed  of  “sweet  spices,  stacte,  onycha,  galbanum,  with 
pure  frankincense;  of  each  a like  weight  . . . a perfume  . . . pure 
and  holy.”  And  “when  any  will  offer  a meatoffering  (Levit.  II, 
1-3)  it  shall  be  of  fine  flavor,  and  he  shall  pour  oil  upon  it,  and  put 
frankincense  thereon  . . . and  the  priest  shall  burn  the  memorial 
upon  the  altar,  to  be  an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  a sweet  savour  unto 
the  Lord.  ” There  were  special  rooms  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem 
for  storing  it  under  priestly  guard  (I  Chron.  IX,  26-30);  and  later, 
when  one  of  these  rooms  was  occupied  as  a dwelling,  it  was  con- 
sidered a sacrilege  (Nehemiah  XIII,  4-9).  The  trade  in  the  days  of 


123 


Israel’s  prosperity  was  important:  “Who  is  this  that  cometh  out  of 
the  wilderness  like  pillars  of  smoke,  perfumed  with  myrrh  and  frank- 
incense, with  all  powders  of  the  merchant?”  (Song  of  Solomon  III, 
6.)  “The  multitude  of  camels  shall  cover  thee,  the  dromedaries  of 
Midian  and  Ephah:  all  they  from  Sheba  shall  come;  they  shall  bring 
gold  and  incense;  and  they  shall  shew  forth  the  praises  of  the  Lord.” 
(Isaiah  LX,  6.)  And  the  Queen  of  Sheba  “gave  the  king  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty  talents  of  gold,  and  of  spices  a very  great  store,  and 
precious  stones;  there  came  no  more  such  abundance  of  spices  as 
these  which  the  Queen  of  Sheba  gave  to  King  Solomon.”  (1  Kings 
X,  10.) 

The  Nimrud  Inscription  of  the  great  Assyrian  monarch  Tiglath- 
Pileser  III,  tells  how  “fear  of  the  brilliance  of  Ashur,  my  lord,  over- 
came Merodach-baladan,  of  Yakin,  King  of  the  Sea-Country,”  and 
how  he  came  and  made  submission,  bringing  as  tribute  ‘‘gold — the 
dust  of  his  land — in  abundance,  vessels  of  gold,  necklaces  of  gold, 
precious  stones,  the  product  of  the  sea  (pearls? ),  beams  of  us/iu-'wooA , 
ellutu-'wooA,  party-colored  clothing,  spices  of  all  kinds.” 

In  the  Persian  empire  frankincense  was  equally  treasured.  Hero- 
dotus tells  us  that  the  Arabs  brought  a tribute  of  1000  talents’  weight 
every  year  to  Darius  (III,  97),  and  that  a similar  quantity  was  burnt 
every  year  by  the  Chaldaeans  on  their  great  altar  to  Bel  at  Babylon 
(I,  183).  Prom  the  spoils  of  Gaza  in  Syria,  500  talents’  weight  of 
frankincense  was  sent  by  Alexander  the  Great  to  his  tutor  Leonidas 
(Plutarch,  Lives ) who  had  rebuked  him  for  loading  the  Macedonian 
altars  too  lavishly,  remarking  that  he  must  be  more  economical  until 
he  had  conquered  the  countries  that  produced  the  frankincense ! 
(Pliny  XII,  32.)  The  temple  of  Apollo  in  Miletus  was  presented 
with  10  talents’  weight  in  243  B.  C.,  by  Seleucus  II,  King  of  Syria, 
and  his  brother  Antiochus  Hierax,  King  of  Cilicia.  The  temple  of 
Venus  at  Paphos  was  fragrant  with  frankincense: 

“Ipsa  Paphum  sublimis  abit,  sedesque  revisit 
Laeta  suas  ubi  templum  illi,  centumque  Sabaeo 
Ture  calent  arae  sertisque  recentibus  halant.  ” 

— Virgil,  deneid,  I,  416. 

And  to  the  infant  Saviour  in  Bethlehem  came  ‘ three  wise  men 
from  the  east,  with  gifts, — gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh”  (Matt.  II, 
11),  signifying,  according  to  a Persian  legend  quoted  by  Yule,  “the 
gold  the  kingship,  the  frankincense  the  divinity,  the  myrrh  the  healing 
powers  of  the  Child.” 


124 


Likewise  in  funerals  were  its  virtues  required.  The  priests 
of  Amon  under  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  were  instructed  to  “be  vigi- 
lant concerning  your  duty,  be  ye  not  careless  concerning  any  of 
your  rules;  be  ye  pure,  be  ye  clean  concerning  divine  things  . . . 
bring  ye  up  for  me  that  which  came  forth  before,  put  on  the  gar- 
ments of  my  statues,  consisting  of  linen;  offer  ye  to  me  of  all  fruit, 
give  ye  me  shoulders  of  beef,  fill  ye  for  me  the  altar  with  milk,  let 
incense  be  heaped  thereon.”  (Breasted,  op.  cit.,  II,  571.)  “They 
buried  him  in  his  own  sepulchres  . . . and  laid  him  in  the  bed  which 
was  filled  with  sweet  odours  and  divers  kinds  of  spices  prepared  by  the 
apothecaries’  art;  and  they  made  a very  great  burning  for  him.” 
(II  Chron.  XVI,  14).  At  the  time  of  the  Periplus  this  was  par- 
ticularly the  fashion  in  Rome,  as  Pliny  observes  with  disapproval 
(VII,  42):  — 

“It  is  the  luxury  which  is  displayed  by  man,  even  in  the  para- 
phernalia of  death,  that  has  rendered  Arabia  thus  “happy;”  and 
which  prompts  him  to  bury  with  the  dead  what  was  originally  under- 
stood to  have  been  produced  for  the  service  of  the  gods.  Those  who 
are  likely  to  be  the  best  acquainted  with  the  matter,  assert  that  this 
country  does  not  produce,  in  a whole  year,  so  large  a quantity  of  per- 
fumes as  was  burnt  by  the  Emperor  Nero  at  the  funeral  obsequies  of 
his  wife  Poppaea.  And  then  let  us  only  take  into  account  the  vast 
number  of  funerals  that  are  celebrated  throughout  the  whole  world 
each  year,  and  the  heaps  of  odors  that  are  piled  up  in  honor  of  the 
bodies  of  the  dead;  the  vast  quantities,  too,  that  are  offered  to  the 
gods  in  single  grains;  and  yet,  when  men  were  in  the  habit  of  offer- 
ing up  to  them  the  salted  cake,  they  did  not  show  themselves  any  the 
less  propitious;  nay,  rather,  as  the  facts  themselves  prove,  they  were 
even  more  favorable  to  us  then  than  they  are  now.  How  large  a 
portion,  too,  I should  like  to  know,  of  all  these  perfumes  really  comes 
to  the  gods  of  heaven,  and  the  deities  of  the  shades  below?” 

The  customs  ruling  the  gathering  and  shipment  of  frankincense 
are  carefully  described  by  Pliny  (XII,  30),  as  follows: 

“There  is  no  country  in  the  world,”  (forgetting,  however, 
the  Somali  peninsula),  “that  produces  frankincense  except  Arabia, 
and  indeed  not  the  whole  of  that.  Almost  in  the  very  center  of 
that  region  are  the  Atramitae,  a community  of  the  Sabaei,  the  capital 
of  whose  kingdom  is  Sabota,  a place  situate  on  a lofty  mountain.  At 
a distance  of  eight  stations  from  this  is  the  incense-bearing  region, 
known  by  the  name  of  Saba  ( Abasa? ).  This  district  is  inaccessible 
because  of  rocks  on  every  side,  while  it  is  bounded  on  the  right  by 
the  sea,  from  which  it  is  shut  out  by  tremendously  high  cliffs 


125 


The  forests  extend  20  schoeni  in  length  and  10  schoeni  in  breadth. 
(A  schoenus  = 40  stadia  = 4 English  miles.) 

1 ‘Adjoining  are  the  Minaei,  a people  of  another  community, 
through  whose  country  is  the  sole  transit  for  the  frankincense,  along  a 
single  narrow  road.  The  Minasi  were  the  first  people  who  carried  on 
any  traffic  in  frankincense.  ...  It  is  the  Sabaei  alone,  and  no  other 
people  among  the  Arabians,  that  behold  the  incense-tree;*  and  not  all 
of  them,  for  not  over  3000  families  have  a right  to  that  privilege  by 
hereditary  succession;  for  this  reason  these  persons  are  called  sacred, 
and  are  not  allowed,  while  pruning  the  trees  or  gathering  the  harvest, 
to  receive  any  pollution,  either  by  intercourse  with  women  or  coming 
in  contact  with  the  dead;  by  these  religious  observances  it  is  that  the 
price  of  the  commodity  is  so  enhanced. 

“The  natural  vintage  takes  place  about  the  rising  of  the  Dog-star, 
a period  when  the  heat  is  most  intense;  on  which  occasion  they  cut 
the  tree  where  the  bark  appears  to  be  the  fullest  of  juice,  and  ex- 
tremely thin,  from  being  distended  to  the  greatest  extent.  The  in- 
cision thus  made  is  gradually  extended,  but  nothing  is  removed;  the 
consequence  of  which  is,  that  an  unctuous  foam  oozes  forth,  which 
gradually  coagulates  and  thickens.  When  the  nature  of  the  locality 
requires  it,  this  juice  is  received  upon  mats  of  palm-leaves,  though  in 
some  places  the  space  around  the  tree  is  made  hard  by  being  well 
rammed  down  for  the  purpose.  The  frankincense  that  is  gathered 
after  the  former  method  is  in  the  purest  state,  though  that  which  falls 
upon  the  ground  is  the  heaviest  in  weight. 

• “The  forest  is  allotted  in  certain  portions,  and  such  is  the  mutual 
probity  of  the  owners,  that  it  is  quite  safe  from  all  depredation;  indeed, 
there  is  no  one  left  to  watch  the  tree  after  the  incisions  are  made,  and 
yet  no  one  is  ever  known  to  plunder  his  neighbor.  But,  by  Hercules! 
at  Alexandria,  where  the  incense  is  dressed  for  sale,  the  workshops 
can  never  be  guarded  with  sufficient  care;  a seal  is  even  placed  upon 
the  workmen’s  aprons  and  a mask  put  upon  the  head,  or  else  a net 
with  very  close  meshes,  while  the  people  are  stripped  naked  before 
they  are  allowed  to  leave  work.  So  true  it  is  that  punishments  afford 
less  security  among  us  than  is  to  be  found  by  these  Arabians  amid 
their  woods  and  forests! 

“The  incense  which  has  accumulated  during  the  summer  is  gath- 


*Cf  Virgil,  Georgies  II,  116-117: 

Divisas  arboribus  patriae.  Sola  India  nigrum 
Fert  ebenum,  solis  est  turea  virga  Sabaeis. 
And  again,  I,  57: 

India  mittit  ebur,  molles  sua  tura  Sabaei. 


126 


ered  in  the  autumn;  it  is  the  purest  of  all,  and  is  of  a white  color. 
The  second  gathering  takes  place  in  the  spring,  incisions  being  made 
in  the  bark  for  that  purpose  during  the  winter;  this,  however,  is  of  a 
red  color,  and  not  to  be  compared  with  the  other  incense.” 

And  of  the  storage  of  all  the  incense  of  the  country  in  the  capital, 
Pliny  gives  a further  account  (XII,  32): 

“The  incense  after  being  collected,  is  carried  on  camels’  backs 
to  Sabota,  of  which  place  a single  gate  is  left  open  for  its  admission. 
To  deviate  from  the  high  road  while  carrying  it,  the  laws  have  made 
a capital  offense.  At  this  place  the  priests  take  by  measure,  and  not 
by  weight,  a tenth  part  in  honor  of  their  god,  whom  they  call  Sabis; 
indeed,  it  is  not  allowable  to  dispose  of  it  before  this  has  been  done; 
out  of  this  tenth  the  public  expenses  are  defrayed,  for  the  divinity 
generously  entertains  all  those  strangers  who  have  made  a certain 
number  of  days’  journey  in  coming  thither.  The  incense  can  only 
be  exported  through  the  country  of  the  Gebanitae,  and  for  this  reason 
it  is  that  a certain  tax  is  paid  to  t-heir  king  as  well. 

“There  are  certain  portions  also  of  the  frankincense  which  are 
given  to  the  priests  and  king’s  secretaries:  and  in  addition  to  these, 
the  keepers  of  it,  as  well  as  the  soldiers  who  guard  it,  the  gate-keepers 
and  various  other  employees,  have  their  share  as  well.  And  then  be- 
sides, all  along  the  route,  there  is  at  one  place  water  to  pay  for,  at 
another  fodder,  lodging  of  the  stations  and  various  taxes  and  imposts 
besides;  the  consequence  of  which  is,  that  the  expense  for  each 
camel  before  it  arrives  at  the  shores  of  our  sea  (the  Mediterranean) 
is  688  denarii;  after  all  this,  too,  there  are  certain  payments  still  to 
be  made  to  the  farmers  of  the  revenue  of  our  empire. 

“Hence  a pound  of  the  best  incense  sells  at  6 denarii,  of  the 
second  quality  at  5,  and  of  the  third  quality  at  3 denarii.” 

27.  To  Cana  on  rafts. — This  was  the  Dhofar,  or  “Sacha- 
litic”  frankincense,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  the  Hadramaut 
valley,  which  would  naturally  go  by  camel  direct  to  Sabbatha.  Pliny 
(VI,  34)  doubts  the  story  of  the  inflated  rafts,  derived,  he  thinks, 
from  a fancied  resemblance  to  the  name  given  the  African  tribe 
tribe  using  them — Jscita-,  the  Greek  word  askos  meaning  “bladder.” 
But  the  Ascitae,  as  already  shown,  were  from  Asich  (§  33)  and  were 
the  founders  of  Axum.  And  the  inflated  raft  is  authentic,  being  the 
well-known  kelek,  a type  still  in  general  use  on  the  Euphrates,  whence 
the  migrating  Arabs  no  doubt  brought  it  to  the  south  coast.  This  is 
probably,  also,  the  “cargo-ship”  of  § 33,  sent  from  Cana  to  Masira 
Island  for  tortoise-shell. 


127 


27.  The  neighboring  coast  of  Persia  means  that  part  of 
the  South  Arabian  coast  between  Kuria  Muria  Bay  and  Ras  el  Hadd, 
which  had  recently  been  conquered  by  the  Parthian  Empire.  The 
word  “Parthia”  our  author  avoids,  and  it  is  likely  that  this  coast 
did  likewise,  knowing  rather  the  independent  sphere  of  influence  of 
the  constituent  Kingdom  of  Persia;  which,  while  an  integral  part  of 
the  Arsacid  possessions,  maintained  its  local  government  to  an  extent 
never  allowed  the  districts  nearer  Ctesiphon. 

28.  Imported  into  this  place. — The  list  of  imports  indicates 
the  nature  of  the  trade : a little  wheat,  wine,  and  cheap  clothing  for 
the  Hadramaut,  and  graven  images  for  the  household  worship  of  its 
king;  and  the  Mediterranean  products,  copper,  tin,  coral  and  storax, 
for  re-shipment  to  India,  where  they  were  in  demand  (§  49),  and 
whither  they  went  in  Hadramaut  shipping  (§  57),  along  with  the 
frankincense  produced  in  the  country.  The  outlook  of  Hadramaut, 
then  as  now,  was  toward  India  by  sea,  and  toward  Egypt  by  land. 
Bent  found  the  same  conditions;  the  capital  full  of  Parsee  merchants, 
the  natives  going  to  India,  the  Straits  and  Java,  and  returning  when 
they  had  amassed  a competence;  the  English  protectorate  accepted 
because  of  England’s  domination  of  India,  in  the  face  of  the  religious 
convictions  of  rulers  and  people  ( Geographical  Journal , IV,  322 ) . 
Maltzan  described  the  Hadrami  traders  in  Cairo  as  the  keenest  of  the 
lot,  and  spoke  of  their  activities  in  the  East;  while  the  Dutch  gov- 
ernment, finding  the  islands  of  Java  and  Sumatra  overrun  with  Ha- 
dramaut Arabs,  stimulated  inquiries  of  them  in  Batavia,  which  re- 
sulted in  Van  den  Berg’s  book  on  their  country,  comprising  more 
details  than  Bent  could  gather  on  the  spot!  An  enterprising  and 
uncompromising  people,  these  Chatramotitae,  who  may  have  been  the 


128 


active  power  in  the  Minaean  dynasty  and  the  Sabaean  that  followed  it, 
both  of  whom  subsisted  mainly  on  the  carriage  of  frankincense  to  the 
north,  in  which  they  were  the  mediators  between  the  profane  world 
and  the  unpolluted  caste  of  those  who  were  able  by  propitiating  the 
spirit  of  the  sacred  tree,  to  shed  and  gather  its  blood  for  the  purifica- 
tion of  mankind. 

28.  Coral  . — This  w’asthe  red  coral  of  the  Mediterranean,  which 
commanded  a high  price  in  India  and  China,  and  was  one  of  the 
principal  Roman  exports  thither,  being  shipped  to  Barbaricum,  Bary- 
gaza  and  Muziris.  (See  39,  49,  and  56.  ) As  an  import  at  Cana 
it  was  intended  for  reshipment  to  India  in  Arab  or  Hindu  bottoms. 

28.  Storax  in  Roman  times  meant  two  different  things:  one,  a 
solid,  was  the  resin  of  Styrax  officinalis,  order  Styracacea,  somewhat 
resembling  benzoin,  and  used  in  incense.  Liquid  storax  was  the  sap 
of  Liquidambar  orientalis,  order  Hamamelidacetz,  native  in  S.  W.  Asia 
Minor,  and  exported,  according  to  Fliickiger  and  Hanbury  ( Pharma - 
cographia , pp.  271-6),  as  far  as  China.  It  was  an  expectorant  and 
stimulant,  useful  in  chronic  bronchial  affections.  The  Periplus  does 
not  distinguish  between  them,  but  Fliickiger  thinks  that  the  storax  dealt 
in  at  Cana  was  the  liquid  storax,  destined  for  India  and  China;  which 
would  have  had  little  use  for  an  incense  of  less  value  than  their  own. 

There  was,  however,  a local  use  for  storax  in  defending  the  frank- 
incense gatherers  from  the  “serpents”  guardingthe trees;  seepp.  131-2. 

Hirth  in  his  China  and  the  Roman  Orient  quotes  Chinese  annals 
covering  this  period,  which  state  that  the  Syrians  “collect  all  kinds  of 
fragrant  substances,  the  juice  of  which  they  boil  into  su-ho” — which 
he  identifies  with  storax.  Later  annals,  referring  to  the  6th  century, 
are  more  complete.  “Storax  is  made  by  mixing  and  boiling  the  juice 
of  various  fragrant  trees;  it  is  not  a natural  product.  It  is  further  said 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Ta-ts’ in  (Syria)  gather  the  storax  (plant,  or  parts 
of  it),  squeeze  the  juice  out,  and  thus  make  a balsam  (hsiang-kao)  ; they 
then  sell  its  dregs  to  the  traders  of  other  countries;  it  thus  goes 
through  many  hands  before  reaching  China,  and,  when  arriving  here, 
is  not  very  fragrant.  ” 

These  references  indicate  that  the  Chinese  su-ho  may  not  have 
been  the  product  of  one  particular  tree. 

Glaser  notes  the  name  su-ho,  which  the  Chinese  annals  further 
state  to  have  been  the  name  of  the  country  producing  the  storax,  and 
connect  with  the  city  Li-kan,  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  Rekam  or 
Petra,  which  was  a point  of  shipment.  He  compares  this  with  the 
z/jv-wood  mentioned  in  several  Assyrian  inscriptions  a tribute  received 
from  Arabia,  and  with  a city  called  Usuu,  placed  by  Delitzsch  south 


129 


of  Akko  on  the  sea — but  Glaser  thinks  it  may  have  been  farther  north, 
near  Tyre. 

28.  Aloes,  a bitter  cathartic,  being  the  dried  juice  exuded 
from  Aloe  Perryi,  Baker,  order  Liliacece.  This  was  from  very  early 
times  an  important  article  of  commerce,  and  was  produced  almost 
entirely  in  Socotra.  Another  variety,  less  in  demand,  was  from  Aloe 
hepatica,  native  in  South  Arabia,  particularly  in  the  Hadramaut  valley, 
but  also  as  far  as  northern  Oman.  The  failure  of  the  Periplus  to 
mention  Socotrine  aloes  is  surprising,  unless  the  product  of  the  island 
was  monopolized  in  Cana.  This  is  quite  possible,  as  the  island  was 
subject  to  the  Hadramaut. 

In  modern  times  these  and  many  other  varieties  are  in  use.  both 
wild  and  cultivated,  throughout  the  tropics.  Bent  ( Southern  Arabia , 
p.  381)  found  very  little  aloes  collected  in  Socotra,  but  many  fields 
enclosed  by  walls,  where  it  had  formerly  been  produced.  He  de- 
scribes the  ancient  method  still  used  to  prepare  the  gum;  the  thick 
leaves  piled  up  until  the  juice  exudes  of  their  own  weight,  then  allowed 
to  dry  in  the  sun  for  six  weeks  and  finally  packed  in  skins  for  shipment. 

29.  The  Bay  of  Sachalites. — -Until  the  Arabian  coast  was 
surveyed,  there  was  an  erroneous  idea  held  by  all  the  geographers,  of 
a deep  indentation  in  the  coast-line  between  Ras  el  Kelb  (14°  O’  N. , 
48°  45’  E. ) and  Ras  Hasik  (17°  23’  N.,  55°  10’  E.),  midway  be- 
tween which  Ras  Fartak,  or  Syagrus  (14°  O'  N.,  52°  12  E. ) bisected 
the  supposed  gulf.  The  error  is  very  evident  in  Ptolemy’s  observa- 
tions, which  make  Ras  Fartak  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the 
coast,  whereas  its  actual  projection  is  unimportant,  and  its  height  less 
than  that  of  the  ranges  farther  east. 

The  name  as  applied  in  § 29  seems  to  apply  to  this  whole  strip 
of  coast;  in  § 32  that  part  of  it  lying  east  of  Ras  Fartak  is  subdivided 
as  the  district  of  Omana;  but  in  § 33  the  name  is  resumed.  This 
accords  with  the  Arabian  geographers,  whose  Shehr  extended  beyond 
Dhofar. 

The  word  Sachalites  is  Hellenized  from  the  Arabic  Sahil,  ‘ ‘coast,  ” 
the  same  word  that  appears  in  East  Africa  as  Sawahil,  where  the 
natives  are  called  Swahili.  This  narrow  strip  of  coast  plain  was  dif- 
ferent topographically  and  ethnologically  from  the  Valley  of  Hadra- 
maut. 

The  mediaeval  form  of  the  word  was  Sheher  or  Shehr,  and  the 
mediaeval  port  that  replaced  Cana  was  Es-shehr  (the  Escier  of  Marco 
Polo). 

Ibn  Khaldun  (Kay’s  translation,  p.  180)  has  the  following  ac- 
count of  this  coast:  “Ash-Shihr  is,  like  Hijaz  and  Yaman,  one  of 


130 


the  kingdoms  of  the  Arabian  peninsula.  It  is  separate  from  Hadra- 
maut  and  Oman.  There  is  no  cultivation,  neither  are  there  palm- 
trees  in  the  country.  The  wealth  of  the  inhabitants  consists  of  camels 
and  goats.  Their  food  is  flesh,  preparations  of  milk  and  small  fish, 
with  which  they  also  feed  their  beasts.  The  country  is  also  known 
as  that  of  Mahra,  and  the  camels  called  Mahriyah  camels  are  reared 
in  it.  Ash-Shihr  is  sometimes  conjoined  with  Oman,  but  it  is  con- 
tiguous to  Hadramaut,  and  it  has  been  described  as  constituting  the 
shores  of  that  country.  It  produces  frankincense,  and  on  the  seashore 
the  Shihrite  ambergris  is  found.  The  Indian  Ocean  extends  along 
the  south  and  on  the  north  Hadramaut,  as  if  Shihr  were  the  sea-shore 
of  the  latter.  Both  are  under  one  king.” 

Hommel  (in  Hilprecht,  op.  cit.  700-1)  argues  for  a derivation  of 
this  name  from  some  word  allied  to  the  old  Hebrew  term  for  frankin- 
cense, shekheleth ; which  does  not  seem  to  have  been  in  use  on  the 
south  coast,  while  the  evidence  of  the  Arab  writers  is  against  him.  (See 
also  Glaser,  Skizze,  178-9.)  The  Periplus  in  § 32  is  against  him, 
by  using  the  adjective  Sachalitic  as  qualifying  ‘ frankincense,”  which 
would  be  quite  redundant. 

Vaughn  ( Pharm . Journ.  XII,  1853)  speaks  of  the  Shaharree 
luhan  from  Arabia,  as  yielding  higher  prices  than  that  produced  in 
Africa;  a term  exactly  corresponding  to  the  “Sachalitic  frankincense” 
of  the  Periplus. 

29.  Always  fatal. — The  reports  of  the  unhealthy  character  of 
this  coast,  spread  by  the  earliest  traders,  have  been  assumed  to  be  their 
device  to  discourage  competition.  The  fate  of  Niebuhr’s  party  in 
Yemen,  and  the  more  recent  tragic  outcome  of  Bent’s  explorations, 
sufficiently  confirm  the  dangers  from  malaria,  dysentery  and  the  scorch- 
ing sun. 

But  aside  from  the  question  of  physical  health,  the  tapping  of  the 
frankincense  tree  was  believed  to  be  attended  by  special  dangers,  ex- 
pressed in  the  faith  of  the  people,  and  arising  from  the  supposed 
divinity  of  the  tree  itself. 

W.  Robertson  Smith  ( Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  427)  recounts 
this  belief  as  follows: 

“The  religious  value  of  incense  was  originally  independent  of 
animal  sacrifice,  for  frankincense  was  the  gum  of  a very  holy  species 
of  tree,  which  was  collected  with  religious  precautions.  Whether, 
therefore,  the  sacred  odor  was  used  in  unguents  or  burned  like  an 
altar  sacrifice,  it  appears  to  have  owed  its  virtue,  like  the  gum  of  the 
samora  (acacia)  tree,  to  the  idea  that  it  was  the  blood  of  an  animate 
and  divine  plant.” 


131 


And  again  (p.  133)  : “In  Hadramaut  it  is  still  dangerous  to  touch 
the  sensitive  mimosa,  because  the  spirit  that  resides  in  the  plant  will 
avenge  the  injury.  The  same  idea  appears  in  the  story  of  Harb  b. 
Omayya  and  Mirdas  b.  Abi  Amir,  historical  persons  who  died  a gen- 
eration before  Mohammed.  When  these  two  men  set  fire  to  an  un- 
trodden and  tangled  thicket,  with  the  design  to  bring  it  under  cultiva- 
tion, the  demons  of  the  place  flew  away  with  doleful  cries  in  the  shape 
of  white  serpents,  and  the  intruders  died  soon  afterwards.  The  jinn 
it  was  believed  slew  them  because  they  had  set  fire  to  their  dwelling- 
place.  Here  the  spirits  of  the  trees  take  serpent  form  when  they 
leave  their  natural  seats,  and  similarly  in  Moslem  superstition  the  jinn 
of  the  ‘ oshr  and  hamata  are  serpents  which  frequent  trees  of  these 
species.  But  primarily  supernatural  life  and  power  reside  in  the  trees 
themselves,  which  are  conceived  as  animate  and  even  as  rational  . . 
Or  again  the  value  of  the  gum  of  the  acacia  as  an  amulet  is  connected 
with  the  idea  that  it  is  a clot  of  menstruous  blood,  i.  e.,  that  the  tree 
is  a woman.  And  similarly  the  old  Hebrew  fables  of  trees  that  speak 
and  act  like  human  beings  (Judg.  IX,  8 ff. , 2 Kings  XIV,  9)  have 
their  original  source  in  the  savage  personification  of  vegetable  species.” 

The  Romans  and  Greeks,  it  is  well  known,  believed  that  the 
souls  of  the  dead  were  incarnate  in  the  bodies  of  serpents  and  revisited 
the  earth  in  that  form;  hence,  as  Frazer  has  shown  ( Golden  Bough , 
3d  ed.,  IV,  74),  such  practices  as  that  described  in  the  Baccha  of 
Euripides,  when  nursing  mothers  entered  the  Dionysiac  revels  clad  in 
deer-skins  and  girded  with  serpents,  which  they  suckled.  Hence, 
also,  the  Roman  custom  of  keeping  serpents  in  every  household,  and 
the  serpent-worship  connected  with  their  god  Aesculapius,  to  whose 
shrines,  as  well  as  to  those  of  Adonis  in  Syria,  childless  women  re- 
paired that  they  might  be  quickened  by  a dead  saint,  a jinn,  or  by  the 
god  himself,  in  serpent  form.  Such  was  the  belief  concerning  the 
births  of  Alexander  of  Macedon  and  the  Emperor  Augustus. 

Herodotus  refers  to  this  same  belief  in  two  passages  (III,  107 
and  II,  75)  which  have  been  laughed  at  as  travellers’  yarns.  “The 
Arabians  gather  frankincense,”  he  says,  “by  burning  styrax,  which 
the  Phoenicians  import  into  Greece;  for  winged  serpents,  small  in 
size  and  various  in  form,  guard  the  trees  that  bear  frankincense,  a 
great  number  round  each  tree.  These  are  the  same  serpents  that  in- 
vade Egypt.  They  are  driven  from  the  trees  by  nothing  else  but  the 
smoke  of  the  styrax.”  That  is,  the  wrath  of  the  incense-spirit  was 
appeased  by  the  perfume  provided  by  the  styrax-spirit.  And  every  spring, 
he  says,  these  winged  serpents  flew  into  Egypt  through  a narrow  pass 
near  Buto,  where  they  were  met  by  the  ibis  and  defeated;  hence  the 


132 


veneration  for  the  ibis  in  Egypt.  Here  is  evidently  a belief  that  the 
tree-spirit  hovered  over  its  blood  as  the  traders  carried  it  to  market, 
and  that  the  danger  that  threatened  the  Egyptians  was  averted  by  the 
defensive  power  of  their  own  sacred  bird.  The  location  of  this  Buto 
is  disputed,  but  it  was  probably  along  some  ancient  desert  trade-route 
such  as  that  between  Coptos  and  Berenice  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus. 
Buto  was  also  the  name  of  an  Egyptian  deity,  borrowed  from  “God’s 
Land”  (Yemen). 

Theophrastus  has  the  same  story  of  the  tree  guarded  by  winged 
serpents,  but  refers  it  to  cinnamon  {Hist.  Plant.,  IX,  6). 

According  to  Herodotus,  all  the  fragrant  gums  of  Arabia  were 
similarly  guarded,  except  myrrh;  which  may  suggest  that  myrrh  was 
from  a more  purely  Joktanite  district,  less  imbued  with  the  animism 
of  the  earlier  races  of  Arabia. 

The  same  belief  probably  appears  in  the  “fiery  flying  serpents” 
of  Isaiah  XXX,  60. 

Medicinal  waters  were  guarded  by  similar  powers;  a dragon 
sacred  to  Ares  protected  the  sacred  spring  above  Ismenian  Apollo 
(Frazer,  Pausanias,  V,  43-5);  while  among  the  Arabs  all  medicinal 
waters  were  protected  by  jinns  (W.  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cit.  ,168). 

The  faith  of  the  Incense-Land  presents  many  features  in  com- 
mon with  that  of  the  Greeks.  While  P'razer  is  no  doubt  right  in 
warning  against  indiscriminate  assimilation  of  deities  Greek,  Egyptian 
and  Semitic,  there  is  certainly  some  truth  in  the  words  of  Euripides’ 
Bacchus  (son  of  Jove  and  Semele,  daughter  of  the  Phoenician  Cad- 
mus) who  came  to  Greece  “having  left  the  wealthy  lands  of  the 
Lydians  and  Phrygians  and  the  sun-parched  plains  of  the  Persians, 
and  the  Bactrian  walls;  and  having  come  over  the  stormy  land  of  the 
Medes,  and  the  happy  Arabia , and  all  Asia  which  lies  along  the  coast 
of  the  Salt  Sea,  . . . there  having  established  my  mysteries” — and 
“every  one  of  these  foreign  nations  celebrates  these  orgies.”  ' 

According  to  Herodotus  (III,  8 and  I,  131),  the  only  deities  of 
the  Incense-Land  were  Dionysus  and  Urania,  whom  they  called 
Orotal  and  Alilat;  while  the  Semitic  people  of  Meroe  (II,  29)  wor- 
shipped Zeus  (Ammon)  and  Bacchus  (Osiris)  whom  Glaser  assimi- 
lates with  the  Katabanic  gods  ’Am  and  Uthirat  ( Punt  und  die  Siidara- 
lischcn  Reiche,  43).  Now  the  invocations  of  Dionysus  in  the  mys- 
teries were  “Evoe,  Sabai,  Bacchi,  Hues,  Attes,  Attes,  Hues!”  and 
according  to  Cicero  ( De  natura  deorum,  I,  iii,  23)  one  of  the  names 
of  Bacchus  was  Sabazius;  in  whose  mysteries  at  Alexandria,  we  are 
told  by  Clement  ( Protrept . ii,  16)  persons  initiated  had  a serpent 
drawn  through  the  bosom  of  their  robes,  and  the  reptile  was  identified 


133 


with  the  god  (Frazer,  Golden  Bough,  IV,  76).  Here  seems  to  be 
some  basis,  at  least,  for  identification  of  the  god  of  the  Incense-Land 
to  whom  Pliny  gives  the  name  Sabis;  whom  Glaser  ( Punt , etc.,  p. 
46)  thinks  identical  with  Shams,  the  Sabaean  sun-god,  and  whose 
name  appears  also  in  the  capital  city,  Sabota  or  Sabbatha  (Shabwa). 

There  is  a suggestive  similarity  in  the  legions  concerning  the 
crater  of  Bir  Barhut  in  the  Hadramaut,  and  Aetna,  on  the  top  of 
which  an  ancient  Latin  poem  describes  the  people  offering  incense  to 
the  celestial  deities.  Formerly,  Frazer  says,  victims  were  sacrificed 
also,  probably  to  appease  the  spirits  who  were  supposed  to  dwell 
there. 

The  Abyssinian  Chronicle,  tracing  the  descent  of  the  monarchs 
of  that  people  who  migrated  from  the  Incense-Land,  heads  the  list 
with  “Arwe  the  Serpent”  (Salt,  op.  cit.,  p.  460)  and  Ludolfus  in  his 
Commentaries  (III,  284)  refers  to  the  “great  dragon  who  lived  at 
Axum,’  ’ said  to  have  been  burst  asunder  by  the  prayers  of  nine  Chris- 
tian saints.  (See  also  James  Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship; 
Plutarch,  De  hide  et  Osiride  and  De  Defectu  Oraculorum. ) 

30.  Syagrus  is  unquestionably  Ras  Fartak,  15°  36’  N. , 52°  12 
E. , a bluff  headland  rising  to  a height  of  about  2500  feet,  visible  for 
many  miles  along  the  coast.  This  name,  meaning  “wild  boar”  in 
Greek,  is  probably  a corruption  of  the  Arabic  tribe-name  saukar , plural 
savcakir,  appearing  also  in  Saukira  Bay,  and  in  the  modern  village  of 
Saghar.  This  was  an  incense-gathering  folk,  whose  name  Pliny  as- 
similates to  the  Greek  for  “holy” — sacros,  from  sakr,  the  root-form 
of  saukar.  See  Glaser,  Skizze,  180. 

Yet  the  modern  name  Fartak,  according  to  Forster  (op.  cit. 
II,  171),  has  the  same  meaning,  “Wild  Boar’s  Snout,”  the  mediaeval 
Arabic  geographers  having  possibly  followed  Ptolemy’s  nomenclature. 

30.  Dioscorida,  (nearer  the  Arabian  coast  than  the  African  in 
point  of  population  and  language,  if  not  in  location  as  our  author 
asserts),  continues  its  name  in  the  modern  Socotra  (12°  30'  N. , 54° 
0"  E. ).  Both  forms  are  corruptions  of  the  Sanscrit  Dvipa  Sukhadara, 
meaning  “Island  abode  of  bliss.”  Agatharchides  refers  to  if  as 
“Island  of  the  Blest,”  a stopping-place  for  the  voyagers  between  India 
and  Arabia.  How  ancient  the  Hindu  name  maybe  is  unknown;  the 
sense  possibly  antedates  the  language  in  which  it  is  expressed.  An 
Egyptian  tale  of  the  XHIth  Egyptian  dynasty  (18th  century  B.  C.  ), 
recounted  by  Golenischef  (Report  of  the  Vth  Congress  of  Oriental- 
ists, Berlin,  1 881 ),  speaks  of  it  as  “Island  of  the  Genius,  ” Pa-anch , the 
home  of  the  King  of  the  Incense-Land ; and  in  the  “Genius”  maybe 
recognized  the  jinn  or  spirit  of  the  sacred  tree.  There  is  good  cause 


134 


for  believing  that  this  is  also  the  “Isle  of  the  Blest,”  the  farthest 
point  reached  by  the  wandering  hero  of  that  Babylonian  Odyssey,  the 
narrative  of  Gilgamesh;  which  joins  to  the  story  of  a search  over  the 
known  world  for  the  soul  of  a departed  friend,  found  in  the  end  by 
prayer  offered  to  Nergal,  god  of  the  dead,  the  material  record  of  an 
early  migration  around  the  shores  of  Arabia.  The  theory  of  this 
Cushite-Elamite  migration,  outlined  by  Glaser  ( Skizze,  vol.  II)  is  thus 
recounted  by  Hommel  {Ancient  Hebrew  Tradition , p.  39): 

“Egyptian  records  furnish  us  with  an  important  piece  of  ethno- 
logical evidence.  From  the  Xllth  dynasty  (2200  B.  C.  ?)  onwards 
a new  race  makes  its  appearance  on  the  Egyptian  horizon:  the  Kashi 
in  Nubia.  This  name  was  originally  applied  to  Elam  (Babyl.  kashu: 
cf.  the  Kissioi  of  Herodotus,  the  modern  Khuzistan;  cf.  also  Cutch 
and  Kachh  in  India),  and  according  to  Hebrew  translation,  was 
afterwards  given  to  various  parts  of  central  and  southern  Arabia; 
from  this  he  argues  that  in  very  early  times — prior  to  the  2d  millen- 
nium B.  C. — northeast  Africa  must  have  been  colonized  by  the  Elam- 
ites, who  had  to  pass  around  Arabia  on  their  way  thither.  This  theory 
is  supported  by  the  fact  that  in  the  so-called  Cushite  languages  of 
northeast  Africa,  such  as  the  Galla,  Somali,  Beja,  and  other  allied 
dialects,  we  find  grammatical  principles  analogous  to  those  of  the  early 
Egyptian  and  Semitic  tongues  combined  with  a totally  dissimilar  syn- 
tax presenting  no  analogy  with  that  of  the  Semites  or  with  any  Negro 
tongue  in  Africa,  but  resembling  closely  the  syntax  of  the  Ural-altaic 
languages  of  Asia,  to  which  . . . the  Elamite  language  belongs. 
According  to  this  view,  the  much-discussed  Cushites  (the  Aethiopians 
of  Homer  and  Herodotus)  must  originally  have  been  Elamitic  Kass- 
ites,  who  were  scattered  over  Arabia  and  found  their  way  to  Africa. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Bible  calls  Nimrod  a son  of  Cush,  and 
that  the  name  Gilgamesh  has  an  Elamitic  termination.  What  the 
Nimrod  epic  tells  us  of  his  wanderings  around  Arabia  must  therefore 
be  regarded  as  a legendary  version  of  the  historical  migration  of  the 
Kassites  from  Elam  into  East  Africa.  Nimrod  is  merely  a personifi- 
cation of  the  Elamitic  race-element  of  which  traces  are  still  to  be 
found  both  in  Arabia  and  in  Nubia.” 

And  in  the  same  book,  pp.  35-6,  Hommel  thus  describes  the 
references  in  the  epic,  which  in  its  present  form  he  dates  at  about 
2000  B.  C. : 

“In  the  9th  canto  we  are  told  how  he  set  out  for  the  land  of 
Mashu  (central  Arabia),  the  gate  of  which  (the  rocky  pass  formed  by 
the  cliffs  of  Aga  and  Salma),  was  guarded  by  legendary  scorpion-men. 
(Hence  perhaps  the  name  “land  of  darkness”  applied  to  Arabia  in 


135 


early  Hebrew  annals.)  For  12  miles  the  hero  had  to  make  his  way 
through  dense  darkness;  at  length  he  came  to  an  enclosed  space  by 
the  sea-shore  where  dwelt  the  virgin  goddess  Sabitu;  who  tells  him 
that  “no  one  since  eternal  days  has  ever  crossed  the  sea,  save  Sha- 
mash,  the  hero. 

“Difficult  is  the  crossing,  and  extremely  dangerous  the  way, 

And  closed  are  the  Waters  of  Death  which  bolt  its  entrance; 

How,  then,  Gilgamesh,  wilt  thou  cross  the  sea?” 

But  Gilgamesh  is  directed  to  Arad-Ea,  the  sailor  of  Per-napishtim, 
who  is  in  the  forest  felling  a cedar.  Him  he  asks  to  ferry  him  across 
to  the  “Isle  of  the  Blest.”  After  cutting  120  timbers  60  cubits  long 
(surely  not  “oars,”  as  the  translation  has  it,  but  rather  logs  for  an 
inflated  raft)  and  smearing  them  with  pitch, 

“Then  Gilgamesh  and  Arad-Ea  embarked; 

The  ship  tossed  to  and  fro  while  they  were  on  their  way. 

A journey  of  forty  and  five  days  they  accomplished  in  three  days. 

And  thus  Arad-Ea  arrived  at  the  Waters  of  Death” — 

which  may  have  been  Bab  el  Mandeb,  and  at  the  “Isle  of  the  Blest” 
where  dwelt  Shamash-Napishtim,  great-grandfather  of  Gilgamesh. 

The  island  Pa-anch  of  the  Egyptian  tale  is  obviously  the  same  as 
the  incense-land  Panchaia  of  Virgil  ( Georgies  I,  213),  and  the  tale 
itself  indicates  that  Socotra  was  an  important  center  of  international 
trade  not  far  from  the  time  of  Abraham.  Here  the  occasional  navies 
of  Egypt  met  the  peoples  of  Arabia  and  Africa  and  the  traders  of  India, 
from  the  Gulf  of  Cambay  and  perhaps  in  greater  numbers  from  the 
active  ports  in  that  ruined  sea  of  past  ages,  the  Rann  of  Cutch  (the 
Eirinon  of  § 40);  a condition  not  changed  at  the  time  of  the  Peri- 
plus,  when  the  inhabitants  were  a “mixture  of  Arabs  and  Indians  and 
Greeks,  ” nor  yet  when  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  visited  the  place, 
noting  its  conversion  to  Christianity,  and  observing  that  the  Greek 
element  was  planted  there  by  the  Ptolemies.  Marco  Polo  (III,  32) 
found  still  “a  great  deal  of  trade  there,  for  many  ships  come  from  all 
quarters  with  goods  to  sell  to  the  natives.  A multitude  of  corsairs 
(called  Bawarij , from  Cutch  and  Gujarat)  frequent  the  island;  they 
come  there  and  encamp  and  put  up  their  plunder  for  sale;  and  this 
they  do  to  good  profit,  for  the  Christians  of  the  island  purchase  it 
knowing  well  that  it  is  Saracen  or  Pagan  gear.” 

The  names  Pa-anch  and  Panchaia  Glaser  would  connect,  as 
already  noted,  with  such  others  as  Pano  and  Opone,  the  land  of  Punt 
and  the  Puni  or  Phoenicians,  whose  sacred  bird  was  likewise  con- 
nected with  Panchaia.  Pliny  gives  the  story  (X,  2)  : 

“The  Phoenix,  that  famous  bird  of  Arabia  . . . the  size  of  an 
eagle,  and  has  a brilliant  golden  plumage  around  the  neck,  while  the 


136 


rest  of  the  body  is  of  a purple  color;  except  the  tail,  which  is  azure, 
with  long  feathers  intermingled  of  a roseate  hue;  the  throat  is 
adorned  with  a crest,  and  the  head  with  a tuft  of  feathers.  ...  It  is 
sacred  to  the  sun.  . . . When  old  it  builds  a nest  of  cinnamon  and 
sprigs  of  incense,  which  it  fills  with  perfumes,  and  then  lays  its  body 
upon  them  to  die.  From  its  bones  and  marrow  there  springs  a small 
worm,  which  changes  into  a little  bird;  the  first  thing  that  it  does  is 
to  perform  the  obsequies  of  its  predecessor,  and  to  carry  the  nest 
entire  to  the  City  of  the  Sun  near  Panchaia,  and  there  deposit  it  upon 
the  altar  of  that  divinity.  The  revolution  of  the  great  year  is  com- 
pleted with  the  life  of  this  bird,  and  a new  cycle  comes  round  again 
with  the  same  characteristics  as  the  former  one,  in  the  seasons  and 
appearance  of  the  stars.” 

Seyffarth  has  supposed  this  to  refer  to  the  passage  of  Mercury  every 
625  years,  and  Glaser  connects  the  legend  with  the  hawk-faced 
Egyptian  god  Horus  ( Khor ).  Compare  job  XXIX,  18:  “Then  I 
said,  I shall  die  in  my  nest,  and  I shall  multiply  my  days  as  the  Phoe- 
nix” {Khor  ox  Khol) . The  bird  came  from  an  Arabian  land,  hence 
his  name  from  the  people  thereof;  just  as  the  Greeks  gave  the  same 
name  phoinix  to  the  date-palm,  native  in  that  land;  which  may  be 
assumed  to  have  been  the  southern  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  whence 
convulsions  of  nature,  climatic  or  political  changes,  drove  its  inhabit- 
ants in  opposite  directions,  carrying  their  culture  with  them  and  dupli- 
cating Persian  Gulf  place-names  continuously  in  the  Mediterranean 
and  Erythraean  Seas. 

(See  the  introduction  Ueber  die  Volker  und  Sprachen  Afrikas  in 
Lepsius’  Nubische  Grammatik ; Glaser,  Punt  und  die  Siidarabischen 
Reiche,  and  the  reports  of  the  Austrian  South  Arabian  Expedition.) 

30.  Great  lizards,  of  which  the  flesh  is  eaten. — These 

are  probably  Varanus  niloticus,  family  Varamdcc , order  Lacertilia,  native 
throughout  the  African  region,  and  attaining  a length  of  more  than 
five  feet.  Another  species,  V.  salvator,  while  somewhat  larger,  seems 
to  be  native  only  in  India  and  farther  east.  The  flesh  of  all  the  Var- 
anida , although  offensive  to  the  smell,  is  eaten  by  the  natives,  and 
considered  equal  to  that  of  fowls.  The  name  Varanus  is  from  the 
Arabic  Ouaran,  lizard;  which  by  a mistaken  resemblance  to  the  Eng- 
lish “warn”  has  been  rendered  into  a popular  Latin  name,  Monitor. 
{Cambridge  Natural  History,  VIII,  542-5.) 

30.  Tortoise. — It  is  uncertain  what  species  are  meant.  The 
tortoise-shell  of  commerce  is  from  Che/one  imbricata,  family  Chelonida:, 
the  so-called  “hawks-bill”  turtle,  found  in  all  tropical  waters,  but  sel- 
dom reaching  a length  of  more  than  thirty  inches.  This  is  a “true 


137 


sea-tortoise,”  as  our  author  puts  it,  but  he  goes  on  to  describe  a 
“mountain-tortoise,  the  largest  and  with  the  thickest  shell,”  which  may 
be  Chelone  mydas , the  “green  turtle”  (also  a sea-tortoise),  but  is  more 
likely  one  of  the  gigantic  land-tortoises  (family  Testudinida ) which  ap- 
pear in  many  of  the  islands  of  the  Western  Indian  Ocean;  of  which 
most  are  now  extinct,  ( Testudo  grandidieri  only  recently  in  Mada- 
gascar), while  others,  like  T,  gigantea  and  T.  daudini , are  still  found 
in  less  frequented  islands.  The  “land-tortoise”  and  the  “white- 
tortoise”  may  include  several  species  of  Cinyxis,  Pyxis  and  Testudo. 

(See  Cambridge  Natural  History,  VIII,  364-387.) 

30.  Cinnabar,  that  called  Indian.— (Dragon’s  blood.)  The 
confusion  between  dragon’s  blood  (the  exudation  of  a dracaena)  and 
our  cinnabar  (red  sulphide  of  mercury)  is  of  long  standing,  but  less 
absurd  than  it  seems  at  first  sight.  The  story  is  given  by  Pliny 
(XXXIII,  38,  and  VIII,  12).  The  word  kinnabari , he  says,  is 
properly  the  name  given  to  the  thick  matter  which  issues  from  the 
dragon  when  crushed  beneath  the  weight  of  the  dying  elephant,  mixed 
with  the  blood  of  either  animal.  The  occasions  were  the  continual 
combats  which  were  believed  to  take  place  between  the  two. 
The  dragon  was  said  to  have  a passion  for  elephant’s  blood;  he 
twined  himself  around  the  elephant’s  trunk,  fixed  his  teeth  behind  the 
ear,  and  drained  all  the  blood  at  a draught;  when  the  elephant  fell 
dead  to  the  ground,  in  his  fall  crushing  the  now  intoxicated  dragon. 
Any  thick  red  earth  was  thus  attributed  to  such  combats,  and  given 
the  name  kinnabari.  Originally  red  ochre  (peroxide  of  iron),  was 
probably  the  principal  earth  so  named.  Later  the  Spanish  quicksilver 
earth  (red  sulphide  of  mercury),  was  given  the  same  name  and  pre- 
ferred as  a pigment  to  the  iron.  Later,  again,  the  exudations  of 
Dracana  cinnabari  in  Socotra  and  Dracana  schvzantha  in  Somaliland 
and  Hadramaut  (order  Dracanece) , and  Calamus  draco  'xn  India  (order 
Palmea),  were  given  the  name  kinnabari.  Being  of  similar  texture 
and  appearance,  the  confusion  is  not  surprising,  as  the  Romans  had 
no  knowledge  of  chemistry. 

Pliny  noted  errors  made  by  physicians  in  his  day,  of  prescribing 
the  poisonous  Spanish  cinnabar  instead  of  the  Indian;  and  proposed 
a solution  of  the  problem  by  calling  the  mercury  earth  minium,  the 
ochre  miltos,  and  the  vegetable  product  kinnabari,  but  usage  did  not 
follow  him.  We  now  give  the  mercury  earth  the  old  Greek  name 
for  dragon’s  blood,  and  the  dried  juice  we  give  the  same  name  in 
English. 

Wellsted  {Travels  in  Arabia,  1838,  II,  450-1)  noted  the  two 
varieties  of  Draccena,  one  of  which  had  leaves  the  camels  could  eat, 


138 


while  the  other  was  too  bitter.  Bent  ( Southern  Arabia , 379,  381,  387) 
gives  a good  description  of  this  peculiar  tree,  with  its  thick,  twisted 
trunk  and  foliage  resembling  an  umbrella  turned  inside  out.  He  notes 
that  very  little  is  now  exported  from  Socotra,  the  cultivated  product 
from  Sumatra  and  South  America  having  superseded  it.  The  method 
of  gathering  is  the  simplest  possible,  the  dried  juice  deing  knocked 
off  the  tree  into  bags,  and  the  nicely-broken  drops  fetch  the  best  price. 

According  to  the  Century  Dictionary  the  word  cinnabar  is  “of 
eastern  origin:  cf.  Persian  z injarf,  zinjafr,  — Hindu  shangarf,  cin- 
nabar.” 

The  bit  of  folk-lore  quoted  by  Pliny  confirms  the  Indian  con- 
nections of  Socotra.  Combats  with  a dragon  or  serpent  for  possession 
of  a sacred  place,  or  for  the  relief  of  a suffering  people,  appear  in  all 
the  Mediterranean  countries;  such  were  related  of  Apollo  at  the 
oracle  of  Delphi,  of  Adonis  in  Syria  (perpetuated  in  the  modern  faith 
in  St.  George  in  the  same  locality),  to  say  nothing  of  Marduk  and 
Tiamat  in  the  Babylonian  creation-story.  But  in  all  these  legends, 
held  by  Semitic  people  or  borrowed  from  them,  the  contender  is  a 
hero  or  a god;  while  in  Socotra  it  is  an  elephant.  Pliny  offers  a ma- 
terialistic explanation,  which  is  unconvincing  because  elephants  are 
not  found  in  Socotra  or  in  the  neighboring  parts  of  Africa.  It  is  evi- 
dently a local  faith  rather  than  a natural  fact,  and  light  may  be  thrown 
upon  it  by  Bent’s  observation  ( Southern  Arabia , 379)  that  dragon’s 
blood  is  still  called  in  Socotra  “blood  of  two  brothers.” 

In  the  Mediterranean  world  this  gum  was  used  medicinally  and 
as  a dye;  in  India  it  had  also  ceremonial  uses.  One  must  refer,  not  to 
the  Buddhism  of  the  Kushan  dynasty,  apparently  dominant  as  far  south 
as  the  modern  Bombay  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  but  rather  to  the 
earlier  faith — Brahmanism  overlaid  upon  nature-worship,  then  preva- 
lent among  the  Dravidian  races  farther  south.  The  members  of  the 
Brahman  triad  were  Brahma,  Vishnu  and  Siva,  the  creator,  preserver, 
and  destroyer;  they  were  worshipped  especially  at  a shrine  on  an 
island  in  Bombay  harbor,  called  Elephanta  (in  constant  connection 
commercially  with  the  Gulf  of  Aden),  and  an  elephant’s  head  was 
the  visible  emblem  of  the  sacred  syllable  AUM,  representing  the 
triad,  which  was  pronounced  at  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  any 
reading  of  the  sacred  books,  and  had  many  mystic  properties.  The 
elephant  signified  more  particularly  the  first  person  of  the  triad,  Brahma 
the  creator,  while  the  dragon  or  serpent,  in  the  form  of  the  cobra, 
represented  Siva  the  destroyer;  and  these  combats  of  Pliny,  between 
an  elephant  and  a dragon,  the  blood  from  which  was  called  “blood 


139 


of  two  brothers,”  seem  to  be  a reflection  of  the  perpetual  conflict  be- 
tween the  first  and  third  persons  of  the  Hindu  triad. 

It  is  notable  that  the  Hindu  name  for  Socotra  appears  likewise 
among  the  mysterious  names  of  the  seven  manifestations  of  the  power 
of  AUM  in  their  ritual:  “Earth,  Sky,  Heaven,  Middle  Region,  Place 
of  Births,  Abode  of  the  Blest,  Abode  of  Truth;”  indicating  that  the 
island  had  its  name  from  the  Indian  merchants  who  had  “emigrated 
to  carry  on  trade  there”  (§  30),  especially  in  this  legendary  gum  of 
the  dracaena,  and  suggesting  that  the  name  is  as  old  as  the  Xlllth 
dynasty  tale  and  the  Gilgamesh  epic. 

Another  survival  of  Hindu  influence  seems  to  be  the  mateb  or 
blue  silk  neck-cord,  the  badge  of  baptism  in  modern  Abyssinian 
Christianity,  which  suggests,  more  than  any  Arab  custom,  the  % ennar 
or  sacred  cord  of  the  Brahman  priest. 

(See  the  references  in  J.  G.  Frazer’s  Pausanias  and  Golden  Bough ; 
Porphyry,  de  Ant.  Nymph.,  268;  Asiatic  Researches,  V,  348;  Maurice, 
Indian  Antiquities.  ) 

30.  Yields  no  fruit. — This  must  be  understood  as  referring 
to  agriculture;  this  island  was  particularly  rich  in  natural  products  of 
commercial  value.  Aloes,  dragon’s  blood  and  frankincense  were  all 
plentiful,  also  myrrh  and  other  gums;  but  owing  to  the  monopoly  of 
the  Chatramotitae  these  went  to  market  at  Cana.  Bent  found  many 
evidences  of  this  early  trade,  but  no  present  exploitation;  the  walled 
aloe-fields  deserted,  the  frankincense,  myrrh  and  dragon’s  blood  un- 
collected, and  the  energies  of  the  people  employed  in  the  production 
of  clarified  butter.  The  island  seemed  full  of  cattle,  and  the  Sultan 
kept  a special  dhow  to  carry  the  skins  and  jars  of  clarified  butter  to  the 
mainland,  where  it  was  in  demand  as  far  as  Muscat  and  Zanzibar. 
( Southern  Arabia,  p.  346). 

31.  Subject  to  the  Frankincense  Country. — By  speech, 
race  and  political  allegiance  Socotra  has  been  joined  to  the  Mahra 
district  of  South  Arabia  from  time  immemorial.  La  Roque’s  map  of 
1716  showed  it  “depending  upon  the  Kingdom  of  Fartach”  (Ho- 
garth, op.  cit.,  p.  45);  Wellsted,  writing  in  1838  ( op . cit.,  450-3) 
found  it  jealously  mentioned  as  a dependency  of  the  Sheikh  of  Kissin, 
“formerly  called  King  of  Furtak;”  and  Bent  found  the  same.  (See 
also  the  numerous  reports  of  the  Austrian  Expedition. ) 

31.  Garrisoned;  for  defence  against  the  two  enemies  of  the 
Chatramotitae,  by  whom  they  were  hard  pressed  on  either  side: 
namely,  the  Homerites  and  the  Parthians. 

32.  The  Bay  of  Omana,  being  that  portion  of  the  Bay  of 
Sachalites  lying  east  of  Svagrus,  is  the  modern  Kamar  Bay.  (16° 


140 


15'  N.,  53°  30'  E.)-  The  “mountains,  high  and  rocky  and  steep, 
inhabited  by  cave-dwellers,”  are  the  modern  Jebel  Kamar  and  Jebel 
Gara,  reaching  altitudes  of  over  3,000  feet. 

The  name  “Omana,”  the  same  as  the  modern  Oman,  seems 
to  have  extended  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus  over  a larger  area,  in- 
cluding much  of  the  south  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf  as  well  as  the 
coast  of  South  Arabia  as  far  as  Ras  Hasik;  all  of  which  seems  to  have 
been  subject  to  the  Parthians,  but  recently — for  Isidorus  of  Charax 
Spasini,  writing  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  speaks  of  “Goaesus,  King 
of  the  Omanitae  in  the  Frankincense  Country.”  The  coast  between 
Ras  Hasik  and  Ras  Fartak,  likewise  associated  with  the  name  Omana 
in  the  Periplus,  had  fallen  to  the  Chatramotitae  in  the  recent  partition 
of  the  Incense-Land. 

32.  The  harbor  called  Moscha. — This  is  identified  with 
Khor  Reiri  (17°  2'  N.,  54°  26'  E. ),  a protected  inlet  (now  closed 
at  low  tide  by  a sand-bar);  into  which  empties  the  Wadi  Dirbat. 
It  is  a couple  of  miles  east  of  the  modern  town  of  Taka,  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  plain  of  Dhofar,  a fertile  strip  of  some  50  miles  along 
the  coast  between  Ras  Risut  and  Ras  Mirbat,  surrounded  by  the  Gara 
Mountains.  Marco  Polo  describes  it  (III,  xxxviii)  as  “a  very  good 
haven,  so  that  there  is  a great  traffic  of  shipping  between  this  and 
India.”  It  is,  no  doubt,  the  “harbor  of  the  Abaseni’’  of  Stephanus 
Byzantius.  The  ancient  capital,  Saphar  (whence  the  modern  name 
of  Dhofar,  confused  by  many  mediaeval  geographers  with  Saphar  or 
Zafar,  the  capital  of  the  Homerites  in  Yemen)  lay  probably  in  the 
western  part  of  the  plain,  near  the  modern  Hafa. 

Saphar  seems  to  mean  no  more  than  capital”  or  royal  resi- 
dence,” so  that  the  true  name  of  the  ancient  city  is  unknown. 
Ptolemy  calls  it  Abissa  Polis,  “City  of  the  Habashat.  ” 

The  Plain  of  Dhofar,  and  the  mountains  behind  it  and  for  some 
distance  beyond  on  either  side,  are  the  original,  and  perhaps  always 
the  most  important,  Incense-Land  of  Arabia.  We  are  fortunate  in 
having  a vivid  description  of  the  whole  region,  by  J.  Theodore  Bent 
(Geographical  Journal , VI,  109-134,  with  a map  facing  page  204;  re- 
printed in  his  Southern  Arabia')  with  careful  corrections  by  Glaser 
(Die  Abessimer  in  Arabien  und  Afrika,  182-192).  The  plain  is  alluvial 
soil  washed  down  from  the  mountains,  which  are  of  limestone,  cav- 
ernous, and  high  enough  to  attract  the  rains;  so  that  instead  of  the 
sandstone  and  volcanic  rocks  elsewhere  on  the  south  coast,  here  is 
“one  large  oasis  by  the  sea,”  abundantly  v/atered  the  year  round,  and 
producing  crops  of  all  kinds.  The  encircling  mountains  are  the  source 
of  many  streams,  gathering  in  lakes  on  the  upper  levels  and  falling  to 


141 


the  plain  through  densely  wooded  valleys.  ‘‘Limes,  cactus,  aloes,  and 
mimosa  form  on  all  sides  a delightful  forest,  and  the  mountains  above 
the  lakes  are  clad  almost  to  the  summit  with  timber.  Such  a scene 
we  never  expected  to  witness  in  Arabia;  it  reminded  us  more  of  the 
rich  valleys  leading  up  to  the  tableland  of  Abyssinia.  . . Sweet-scented 
white  jessamine  hung  in  garlands  from  the  trees,  and  the  air  was  fra- 
grant with  the  odor  of  many  flowers.  . . It  is  probable  that  a knowl- 
edge of  such  valleys  as  these  gained  for  Arabia  its  ancient  reputation 
for  floral  wealth.”  And  following  up  the  stream  leading  to  the  an- 
cient harbor,  which  falls  over  a remarkable  limestone  cliff,  Bent  found 
a broad  grassy  plain  used  for  grazing,  and  in  the  midst  a wooded  lake, 
the  center  of  the  local  faith  of  the  Gara  tribe;  “they  affirm  that 
jinnies  live  in  the  water,  and  that  whoever  wets  his  feet  here  is  sure 
to  have  fever.  . . . Every  November  a fair  is  held  here,  to  which  all 
the  Beduins  of  the  Gara  tribe  come  and  make  merry.  The  fair  of 
Dirbat  is  considered  by  them  the  great  festival  of  the  year.  A round 
rock  was  shown  us  on  which  the  chief  magician  sits  to  exorcise  the 
jinni  of  the  lake,  and  around  him  the  people  dance.  ” 

A short  way  up  the  mountain-side  just  back  of  Hafa,  the 
modern  town,  is  “a  great  cave  hung  with  stalactites,  below  which 
are  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  town,  in  the  center  of  which  is  a natural 
hole  100  feet  deep  and  about  50  in  diameter;  around  this  hole  are 
the  remains  of  walls,  and  the  columns  of  a large  entrance  gate.” 
This,  the  natives  told  Bent,  was  the  “well  of  the  Adites, ” no  doubt 
an  ancient  oracle,  mentioned  as  such  by  Ptolemy,  Ibn  Batuta  and 
others. 

Near  Hafa  are  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  capital,  “by  the  sea, 
around  an  acropolis  some  100  feet  in  height,  encircled  by  a moat  still 
full  of  water;  and  in  the  center,  still  connected  with  the  sea,  but 
almost  silted  up,  is  a tiny  harbor.  The  ground  is  covered  with  the 
remains  of  ancient  temples,  the  architecture  of  which  at  once  con- 
nects them  with  that  of  the  columns  at  Adulis,  Coloe  and  Axum — 
after  seeing  which  no  doubt  can  be  entertained  that  the  same  people 
built  them  all.” 

In  Hafa  the  Bents  found  “a  bazaar  with  frankincense  in  piles 
ready  for  shipment,  just  as  depicted  in  the  Deir  el  Bahri  temple,  ” 
while  a large  tract  of  country  was  still  “covered  with  frankincense 
trees,  with  their  bright  green  leaves  like  ash  trees,  their  small  green 
flowers,  and  their  insignificant  fruit.”  (See  later,  p.  218.) 

This  plain,  with  its  ancient  capital,  Saphar,  was  the  center  of  the 
ancient  Cushite  empire  (or  Adite,  from  Ad,  grandson  of  Ham  ) which 
included  most  of  Southern  Arabia  and  much  of  East  Africa;  having  a 


142 


civilization  and  religion  similar  to  and  derived  from  the  Chaldaean. 
About  1800  B.  C.,  according  to  the  Arab  historians,  Joktanite  tribes 
entered  and  conquered  South  Arabia,  but  were  largely  absorbed  by  the 
Cushite  stock;  as  a result  of  which  the  second,  or  Sabaean,  empire 
of  Ad  was  formed,  in  which  the  joktanites  became  the  sacred  and 
land-owning  caste,  while  the  political  and  economic  activities  remained 
with  the  Cushites.  This  was  probably  the  power  that  dealt  with  the 
Egyptians  under  the  XVIIIth  dynasty,  as  pictured  at  Deir-el-Bahri ; 
concerning  which  the  publication  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Fund 
seems  a little  too  positive  that  the  “Land  of  Punt’  ’ could  not  be  in 
Arabia  because  the  faces  of  the  Punt  people  were  not  Semitic.  The 
testimony  of  Arabia  would  be  at  fault  if  they  were.  Later  the  Sabaean 
Cushites,  conquered  by  the  Banu  Ya‘rub,  a Joktanite  stock  from  Ye- 
men, migrated  into  Africa,  and  establishing  themselves  in  Abyssinia, 
continued  the  ancient  conflict  for  six  centuries  more. 

The  account  of  Ibn  Khaldun  (Kay’s  edition,  pp.  179-80)  gives 
a hint  of  the  northern  origin  of  the  “Adites.  ” Hadramaut,  Ash- 
Shihr  and  Oman,  he  says,  “originally  belonged  to  Ad,  from  whose 
people  it  was  conquered  by  the  Banu  Ya‘rub,  son  of  Kahtan  (JoktanJ. 
It  is  said  that  the  Banu  Ad  were  led  thither  by  Rukaym  son  of  Aram , 
who  had  formerly  visited  the  country  in  company  with  the  Prophet 
Hud.  He  returned  to  the  people  of  Ad  and  led  them  in  ships  to  the 
country  and  to  its  invasion.  They  wrested  it  from  the  hands  of . its 
inhabitants,  but  they  were  themselves  subsequently  conquered  by  the 
Banu  YaVub,  son  of  Kahtan.  Kahtan  ruled  over  the  country,  and  it 
was  governed  by  his  son  Hadramaut,  after  whom  it  was  named.  ” 

Makrizi  varies  the  legend  by  making  Ad  son  of  Kahtan,  by  whom 
he  was  made  ruler  over  Babylonia , and  his  brother  Hadramaut  over 
“Habassia;”  and  he  preserves  a memory  of  the  trade  of  the  Incense- 
Land  with  India,  in  the  tale  of  a hero  of  that  land  who  came  by  night 
to  the  land  of  the  Indians  in  the  form  of  a vulture,  whence  he  re- 
turned bearing  seeds  of  the  green  pepper,  as  proof  of  his  journey. 

It  is  regrettable  that  Bent  could  not  have  learned  more  of  the 
local  faith  of  the  Gara  tribe,  exemplified  at  the  annual  reunion  at  the 
Dirbat  lakes,  which  is  probably  an  interesting  survival  of  the  ancient 
faith.  For  as  the  Mahri  represent  the  Himyarite  conquerors  of 
the  incense  coast-land,  so  do  the  Gara  represent  to  some  extent 
the  earlier  inhabitants.  Bent  found  a state  of  armed  truce  under  the 
restraining  influence  of  Muscat;  Haines,  Carter,  and  Cruttenden 
had  found  the  villages  of  the  plain  fighting  among  themselves,  and  the 
mountain  folk  fighting  with  the  plain,  the  gatherers  with  the  over- 
lords,  as  of  old.  Bent  tells  enough,  however,  to  indicate  the  worship 


143 


of  the  spirit  of  the  lake,  the  waters  of  which  might  not  be  polluted  by 
the  foot  of  man;  the  propitiation  of  the  spirit  by  the  “chief  magi- 
cian” at  the  time  of  gathering  the  frankincense,  and  the  celebration 
of  the  harvest  by  a “tribal  dance”  probably  reminiscent  of  baccha- 
nalian rites;  after  which  the  product  is  sent  to  Bombay  for  distribu- 
tion, that  the  rest  of  the  world,  in  the  words  of  Pausanias  (IX,  30) 
may  “worship  God  with  other  people’s  incense.” 

The  name  Moscha  is  another  of  those  place-names  that  are  re- 
peated along  the  coast  from  east  to  west,  and  survives  in  the  modern 
Muscat,  with  which  Muller  mistakenly  identifies  this  port.  According 
to  Forster  {op.  cit.,  II,  174-5)  this  is  an  Arabic  word  meaning  “in- 
flated skin,”  from  the  Genaba  “Fish- Eaters”  or  “floaters  on  skins.  ” 
The  word  continues  in  the  Greek  moschos,  calf.  Glaser  supposes  the 
word  to  be  the  same  as  Mocha,  and  to  signify  a “commercial  harbor,” 
and  to  the  author  of  the  Periplus,  and  to  Ptolemy,  it  is  probable  that 
Moscha  limen  meant  “Incense  Harbor;  moschos  meaning  also  “musk,’’ 
or  in  later  Greek  any  perfume,  even  to  that  of  strawberries;  as  indeed 
the  same  idea  was  uppermost  with  Camoes  ( Lusiad , X,  201)  and  with 
Milton:  — 

Now  gentle  gales, 

Fanning  their  odoriferous  wings,  dispense 
Native  perfumes,  and  whisper  whence  they  stole 
Those  balmy  spoils.  As  when  to  them  who  sail 
Beyond  the  Cape  of  Hope,  and  now  are  past 
Mozambic,  off  at  sea  northeast  winds  blow 
Sabean  odors  from  the  spicy  shore 
Of  Araby  the  Blest,  with  such  delay 

Well  pleased  they  slack  their  course,  and  many  a league 
Cheered  with  the  grateful  smell  old  Ocean  smiles: 

— Paradise  Lost,  IV,  156-165. 

(See  the  works  already  cited  of  Bent,  Wellsted,  Glaser,  Hommel, 
Zwemer,  and  Hogarth;  Lenormant  and  Chevalier,  Manual  of  Ancient 
History  of  the  East,  VII,  1-2;  also  J.  B.  Haines,  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society  for  1839  and  1845;  H.  J.  Carter,  in  Trans- 
actions of  the  Bombay  Asiatic  Society , for  1845,  1847,  and  1851; 
Makrizi  De  Valle  Hadramaut,  Bonn,  1866;  Wellhausen,  Shizzcn  und 
Vorarbeiten,  III,  135-146.) 

32.  The  ship  could  not  clear.— Compare  the  trading  of  the 
Egyptian  expeditions  with  the  “chiefs  of  the  land  of  Punt”  over  these 
“heaps  of  incense,”  and  again  Marco  Polo’s  description  (III,  xxxvii): 
“A  great  deal  of  white  incense  grows  in  this  country,  and  brings  in  a 
great  revenue  to  the  Prince;  for  no  one  dares  sell  it  to  any  one  else; 
and  whilst  he  takes  it  from  the  people  at  10  livres  of  gold  for  the 


144 


hundredweight,  he  sells  it  to  the  merchants  at  60  livres,  so  his  profit 
is  immense.”  And  according  to  the  Marasid-al-Ittila’ , an  Arab  geo- 
graphical dictionary  of  about  the  same  period,  “this  incense  is  care- 
fully watched,  and  can  be  taken  only  to  Dhafar,  where  the  Sultan 
keeps  the  best  part  for  himself;  the  rest  is  made  over  to  the  people. 
But  any  one  who  should  carry  it  elsewhere  than  to  Dhafar  would  be 
put  to  death.  ” 

33.  Seven  Islands  called  Zenobian. — These  are  now  called 
Kuria  Muria,  about  17°  20'  N. , 56°  E. , and  belong  to  England, 
which  acquired  them  from  the  Sultan  of  Oman.  In  the  time  of  the 
Periplus  they  belonged  to  their  western  neighbors,  the  Hadramaut. 

The  name  7jenobian  is  Hellenized  from  the  Arabic  Zenab  or 
Genab;  the  tribe  of  Beni  Genab  having  possessed  the  neighboring 
coast.  This  same  tribal  name,  in  the  form  of  Genabti,  appears  in 
numerous  Egyptian  inscriptions  as  one  of  the  peoples  of  the  “Land 
of  Punt.’’  (See  Glaser,  Punt  und  die  Sudarabischen  Reiche,  p.  10.) 

Concerning  the  relation  of  these  islands  to  the  early  frankincense 
trade,  a bit  of  folk-lore  preserved  by  Marco  Polo  is  particularly  im- 
portant. Pauthier  in  his  French  text  rightly  connects  the  story  with 
the  Kuria  Muria  group  because  of  its  geographical  position;  Yule  and 
Cordier  repudiate  it  as  nonsense.  Vincent,  in  his  edition  of  the  Peri- 
plus (II,  347)  refers  the  “fable,”  without  explanation,  to  these 
islands.  Its  actual  source,  so  far  as  known,  has  not  been  observed. 

About  half-way  between  Makran  and  Socotra,  Marco  Polo  says 
(III,  xxxi),  are  the  two  islands  “called  Male  and  Female,  lying 
about  30  miles  distant  from  one  another.  ...  In  the  island  called 
Male  dwell  the  men  alone,  without  their  wives  or  any  other  women. 
Every  year  when  the  month  of  March  arrives  the  men  all  set  out  for 
the  other  island,  and  tarry  there  for  three  months,  to  wit,  March, 
April,  May,  dwelling  with  their  wives  for  that  space.  At  the  end  of 
these  three  months  they  return  to  their  own  island,  and  pursue  their 
husbandry  and  trade  for  the  other  nine  months.  ...  As  for  the 
children  which  their  wives  bear  to  them,  if  they  be  girls  they  abide 
with  their  mothers;  but  if  they  be  boys  the  mothers  bring  them  up 
till  they  are  fourteen,  and  then  send  them  to  the  fathers.  Such  is  the 
custom  of  these  two  islands.  The  wives  do  nothing  but  nurse  their 
children  and  gather  such  fruits  as  their  island  produces;  for  their 
husbands  do  furnish  them  with  all  necessaries.  ” (Yule’s  Marco  Polo , 
Cordier’ s edition,  II,  404-6.) 

This  story  is  a reflection  of  the  belief,  already  noted  from  Pliny, 
that  the  ceremonial  value  of  the  incense  depended  on  the  personal 
purity  of  the  gatherers,  who  were  considered  sacred.  No  man  touch- 


145 


ing  the  tree,  whether  a proprietor  according  to  the  caste  system  of  the 
Incense-Land,  or  a farmer  or  gatherer,  slave  or  free,  might  undergo 
pollution  through  the  presence  of  women  or  of  the  dead.  The  spirit 
of  the  tree  was  a woman,  and  the  protecting  serpents  were  the  souls 
of  the  dead.  If  gathered  without  pollution,  the  incense  constituted 
the  most  effective  vehicle  of  prayer,  and  had  also  certain  sovereign 
uses  in  purification  after  conjugal  intercourse,  availed  of  by  both 
Arabians  and  Babylonians,  as  described  by  Herodotus  (I,  198)  and 
Strabo  (XVI,  i,  20). 

Pliny’s  account  of  the  Ascitae,  swimming  to  the  mainland  on 
inflated  skins,  has  been  noted.  Stephanus  Byzantius,  writing  in  the 
4th  century  A.  D.,  says  “beyond  the  Sabaei  and  the  Chatramotitae 
dwell  the  Abaseni,  whose  land  yields  myrrh,  aloes,  frankincense, 
cinnamon  and  the  red  plant  which  resembles  the  color  of  T yrian 
purple  (dragon’s  blood).”  Pausanias  in  the  2d  century  {de  situ 
Gracia,  VI,  269)  mentions  a “deep  bay  of  the  Erythraean  Sea 
having  islands,  Abasa  and  Sacaea,”  which  were  the  home  of  these 
same  Ascitae.  Bent  {Southern  Arabia,  p.  230)  describes  the  “Jenefa” 
tribe  on  these  Kuria  Muria  islands,  pursuing  sharks  on  inflated  skins, 
and  Wellsted  {op.  cit.,  Chap.  V)  found  the  “Beni  Geneba”  spread 
all  along  the  coasts  of  South  Arabia  and  Oman,  “shark-fishers  swim- 
ming on  inflated  skins,  and  pastoral  folk,  living  in  skin  tents,  but 
under  the  S.  W.  monsoon  retreating  to  caves,”  as  noted  in  § 32. 
Lieut.  Cruttenden  (Trans.  Bombay  Geog.  Soc. , VII,  121;  1846) 
and  General  Miles  (J.  Geog.  Soc.,  1872)  observe  that  the  coast  of 
South  Arabia  “is  visited  every  season  by  parties  of  Somalis,  who  pay 
the  Arabs  for  the  privilege  of  collecting  the  frankincense.” 

Here  is  obviously  the  foundation  for  Marco  Polo’s  tale.  The 
wandering  Beni  Genab,  whose  locality  included  the  Kuria  Muria 
islands  and  the  coast  north  and  east  thereof,  would  act  as  fishermen 
and  herdsmen  during  certain  seasons,  while  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year  they  would  engage  in  the  more  profitable  occupation  of  in- 
cense gathering;  in  which  they  were  subjected  to  the  rigid  rules 
maintained  by  the  Sayy'td  or  saintly  caste  of  landed  proprietors,  them- 
selves too  dignified  to  do  the  work  (Van  den  Berg,  op.  cit.,  40-44). 
When  the  first  rush  of  sap  occurred  in  the  spring  they  left  their  wives 
perforce,  to  gather  the  best  of  the  white  gum,  remaining  on  the 
incense-terraces  for  later  gatherings  until  the  trees  became  dormant 
again,  when  their  work  for  that  year  was  over  and  they  returned  home. 
And  their  sons  would  naturally  remain  with  their  mothers  only  during 
childhood;  past  which  they  would  be  under  the  same  tabu  as  the 
grown  men,  and  would  begin  work  as  gatherers. 


146 


Far  from  being  a fairy  tale,  it  is  quite  possible  that  at  the  time 
Marco  Polo  wrote — the  caste-system  of  the  Hadramaut  being  fully 
crystalized  under  the  rule  of  Islam — this  story  of  the  Christian  dwellers 
on  the  “Male  and  Female  Islands’’  was  literally  true,  as  it  was  in  the 
earlier  times  in  the  race-conflict  between  Joktanite  overlords  and 
Cushite  gatherers. 

The  “Male  Island”  was,  of  course,  the  coast,  and  the  Female 
included  the  entire  group  of  islands;  the  Arabic  dialects  failing  to  dis- 
tinguish between  “coast”  and  “island.” 

3d.  Beyond  Moscha. — The  “mountain  range  along  the 
shore”  is  the  modern  Jebel  Samhan,  and  the  name  Asich  is  preserved 
in  the  modern  Ras  Hasik,  17°  23’  N. , 55°  20’  E. , as  well  as  in  the 
westernmost  of  the  Kuria  Muria  Islands,  which  faces  it. 

33.  Sarapis  is  the  modern  Masira  Island,  20°  20'  N. , 58°  40’ 
E. , the  first  syllable  only  being  from  the  native  name,  which  our 
author  assimilates  to  that  of  the  Alexandrian  Osiris  of  the  bull-worship, 
Osor-Hapi,  Sarapis,  or  in  the  Latin,  Serapis.  (Concerning  this  wor- 
ship, in  high  favor  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  see  Strabo,  book  XVII, 
Plutarch,  de  hide  et  Osiride,  Maspero,  Histoire  Ancienne,  pp.  30  ff., 
Frazer’s  Pausanias,  II,  175-6.) 

The  syllable  &/-apis  or  Ma-j/r-a  is  probably  the  same  as  the 
tribe-name  Au-wr  or  Ausan  mentioned  in  § 15. 

This  island  is  curiously  confused  by  Pausanias  (VI,  26)  with  the 
Seres.  After  describing  the  Chinese  silk  culture,  he  observes:  “the 
island  of  Seria  is  known  to  be  situated  in  a recess  of  the  Red  Sea. 
But  I have  also  heard  that  the  island  is  formed,  not  by  the  Red  Sea, 
but  by  a river  named  the  Ser  (this  being  Masira  Channel),  just  as  the 
Delta  of  Egypt  is  surrounded  by  the  Nile  and  not  by  a sea;  such  also, 
it  is  said,  is  the  island  of  Seria.  Both  the  Seres  and  the  inhabitants 
of  the  neighboring  islands  of  Abasa  and  Sacaea  are  of  the  Aethiopian 
race;  some  say,  however,  that  they  are  not  Aethiopians,  but  a mixture 
of  Scythians  and  Indians.” 

Here  are  confirmations  of  the  Periplus,  as  to  the  possession  of 
Masira  and  Kuria  Muria  by  the  Habashat,  and  as  to  the  commercial 
activity  of  the  Indo-Scythians,  then  in  possession  of  the  Indus  valley. 

The  use  of  the  “Arabian  language”  (Himyaritic  or  Hadramitic, 
represented  by  the  modern  Mahri),  noted  in  § 33,  confirms  the  ac- 
companying statement  that  the  island  was  then  subject  to  Hadramaut, 
and  its  trade  controlled  from  Cana.  Ordinarily  the  connection  would 
be  rather  with  the  “ Fish-Eaters’  ’ of  the  adjoining  Genaba  coast, 
subject  at  that  time  to  the  Parthians,  so  that  the  language  spoken 
would  have  been  Aethiopic  or  Geez. 


147 


34.  A barbarous  region  which  now  belongs  to  Persia. 

The  Arabian  coast  beyond  the  Kuria  Muria  Islands,  being  now  recently 
conquered  by  the  Parthian  Empire,  at  war  with  Rome,  was  inaccessi- 
ble to  the  author  of  the  Periplus  and  is  described  by  him  briefly  and 
apparently  from  hearsay.  His  own  sailing-course  carried  him  “well 
out  at  sea”  from  Kuria  Muria  to  Masira,  and  thence  direct  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Indus. 

34.  Calaei  Islands. — These  are  the  Daimaniyat  Islands  N.  W. 
of  Muscat  (23°  48’  N.,  58°  O’  E.  ),  the  distance  being  calculated 
from  Masira.  The  name  is  obviously  the  same  as  the  modern  Kalhat, 
just  north  of  Sur  (22°  35’  N.,  59°  29’  E.  ) an  ancient  trading  port, 
mentioned  by  Pliny  (VI,  32 ) as  Acila  (not  to  be  confused  with 
Ocelis  in  Yemen),  “a  city  of  the  Sabaei  (Asabi)  a nation  of  tent 
dwellers,  with  numerous  islands.  This  is  their  mart,  from  which 
persons  embark  for  India.” 

On  this  coast,  between  Ras  el  Had  and  Muscat,  are  the  modern 
ports  of  Kuryat  and  Sur,  which,  in  the  words  of  General  Miles  ( Jour- 
nal of  an  Excursion  in  Oman , Geographical  Journal,  VII,  335-6)  “are 
the  Karteia  and  Tsor,  the  Carthage  and  Tyre,  of  the  race  whom  we 
know  as  Phoenicians,  and  who,  earlier  than  the  time  of  Solomon, 
had  trading-stations  along  the  southern  coast  of  Arabia.  Their  con- 
venient and  important  position  just  opposite  India  must  have  led  to 
their  early  occupation  by  the  merchants  of  those  times  who  were  en- 
gaged in  exchanging  the  productions  of  the  East  and  West.” 

An  eastern  migration  of  this  tribe-name  is  strongly  suggested  in 
Kalat,  city  and  district,  in  eastern  Beluchistan. 

34.  Very  little  civilized.-  This  follows  Eabricius’  reading 
of  a doubtful  passage  in  the  text;  that  offered  by  Muller,  “who  do 
not  see  well  in  the  daytime,”  while  less  probable,  recalls  the  fact  noted 
by  numerous  observers  in  Oman,  that  a good  proportion  of  the  in- 
habitants suffer  from  ophthalmia  or  total  blindness,  due,  largely,  to  the 
terrific  heat  of  this  coast;  which  was  picturesquely  described  by  Abd- 
er-Razzak,  a 15th  century  Persian,  as  follows: 

The  heat  was  so  intense  that  it  burned  the  marrow  in  the 
bones;  the  sword  in  its  scabbard  melted  like  wax,  and  the  gems  which 
adorned  the  handle  of  the  dagger  were  reduced  to  coal.  In  the  plains 
the  chase  became  a matter  of  perfect  ease,  for  the  desert  was  filled 
with  roasted  gazelles.  ’ ’ ( Quoted  from  Curzon  : Persia  and  the  Persian 

Question.  See  also  Hakluyt  Society’s  ed.,  XXII,  9.  ) 

35.  Calon  mountain.— While  the  name  has  a Greek  form, 
and  was  supposed  to  mean  “fair,”  it  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  islands 
and  is'  probably  a tribal  name:  “mountains  of  the  Kalhat.” 


148 


The  range  is  the  Jebel  Akhdar,  or  “Green  Mountains,”  behind 
Muscat,  and  about  10,000  feet  in  altitude.  Good  descriptions  are 
given  by  Wellsted,  Zwemer,  and  Hogarth,  and  of  especial  interest  is 
the  account  of  the  fertile  and  populous  Wadi  Tyin,  enclosed  by  these 
mountains,  visited  by  General  S.  B.  Miles  ( op . cit. ) . 

35.  The  pearl-mussel,  Meleagrina  margaritifera , Ham.,  family 
Aviculida,  is  found  in  many  parts  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  but  particularly 
on  the  southern  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  in  the  shallow  water 
between  India  and  Ceylon.  The  pearl  is  a deposit  formed  around  a 
foreign  substance  in  the  mantle  of  the  mussel,  generally  a parasitic 
larva.  Examination  by  Prof.  Herdman  at  the  Manaar  fisheries  indicated 
that  the  nucleus  of  the  pearl  was  generally  a Platyhelminthian  parasite, 
which  he  identified  as  the  larval  condition  of  a cestode  or  tapeworm. 
This  cestode  passes  from  the  body  of  the  pearl  mussel  into  that  of  a 
file-fish  and  thence  into  some  larger  animal,  possibly  the  large  Trygon 
or  ray.  (Watt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  557-8;  Cambridge  Natural  History,  III, 
100,  449.) 

35.  Asabon  mountains. — This  is  another  tribal  name, 
“mountains  of  the  Asabi,”  or  Beni  Assab,  whom  Wellsted  described 
as  still  living  there  (op.  cit.,  I,  239-242 ),  a people  very  different  from 
the  other  tribes  of  Oman,  living  in  exclusion  in  their  mountains;  and 
whom  Zwemer  ( Oman  and  Eastern  Arabia , in  the  Bulletin  of  the 
American  Geographical  Society,  1907;  pp.  597-606)  considers  a 
remnant  of  the  aboriginal  race  of  South  Arabia,  their  speech  being 
allied  to  the  Mahri  and  both  to  the  ancient  Himyaritic;  who  were 
probably  not  as  Zwemer  thinks,  “driven  northward  by  Semitic  mi- 
gration,” but  represent  rather  a relic  of  that  pre-Joktanite  southward 
migration  around  this  very  coast. 

The  mountain  preserves  the  name,  being  now  the  Jebel  Sibi, 
2800  feet,  26°  20’  N. , 56°  25'  E. , continued  at  the  end  of  the  cape 
in  the  promontory  of  Ras  Musandum.  * 

35.  A round  and  high  mountain  called  Semiramis. 
Fabricius,  following  Sprenger  and  Ritter,  identifies  this  with  Koh-i- 
mubarak,  “Mountain  of  the  Blest”  (25°  50’  N. , 57°  19’  E.  ),  which, 
while  not  high,  being  only  about  600  feet,  is  of  the  shape  here  described 
and  directly  on  the  strait. 

Fabricius  (p.  146)  suggests  that  the  name  Semiramis  is  probably 
the  Arabic  Shamarida  “held  precious.”  Ras  Musandum  has  been  a 
sacred  spot  to  Arabian  navigators  from  time  immemorial.  The  classic 
geographers  describe  some  of  the  practices  of  the  ship-captains  passing 
it,  and  Vincent  tells  of  those  in  his  time  as  follows  (II,  354)  : “All 
the  Arabian  ships  take  their  departure  from  it  with  some  ceremonies 


149 


of  superstition,  imploring  a blessing  on  their  voyage,  and  setting  afloat 
a toy,  like  a vessel  rigged  and  decorated,  which,  if  it  is  dashed  to 
pieces  by  the  rocks,  is  to  be  accepted  by  the  ocean  as  an  offering  for 
the  escape  of  the  vessel.  ” 

35.  ApologUS. — This  was  the  city  known  as  Obollah,  which 
was  an  important  port  during  Saracen  times,  and  from  which  caravan- 
routes  led  in  all  directions.  As  “Ubulu,  in  the  land  of  Bit-Yakin” 
it  figures  in  many  of  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  inscriptions.  It 
was  among  the  conquered  places  named  in  the  Nimrud  Inscription  of 
Tiglath-Pileser  III  (745-727  B.  C.  ) whose  arms  were  carried  from 
Bit-Yakin  “as  far  as  the  river  Uknu  (Cynos,  Wadi  ed  Dawasir?) 
on  the  coast  of  the  Lower  Sea,”  and  who  received  from  Merodach- 
Baladan,  of  Yakin,  king  of  the  sea,  a tribute  of  “gold — the  dust  of 
his  land — precious  stones,  timber,  striped  clothing,  spices  of  all  kinds, 
cattle  and  sheep.” 

T he  location  of  Obollah  seems  always  to  have  given  it  importance 
as  a commercial  center.  Under  the  Seleucidae,  and  in  the  time  of 
Strabo,  Teredon  was  the  leading  port;  while  in  the  time  of  the 
Periplus  Obollah  had  regained  its  former  position. 

The  name  seems  derived  from  Obal,  son  of  Joktan  (Gen.  X,  28). 
35.  Charax  Spasini  is  the  modern  Mohammarah  (30°  24'  N. , 
48°  18’  E. ),  on  the  Shatt-el-Arab,  at  its  confluence  with  the  Karun. 
Pliny  says  (VI,  31)  that  it  was  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great,  whose 
name  it  bore;  destroyed  by  inundations  of  the  rivers,  rebuilt  by  Anti- 
ochus  Epiphanes  under  the  name  of  Antiochia,  again  overflowed,  and 
again  restored,  protected  by  three  miles  of  embankments,  bySpasinus, 
“king  of  the  neighboring  Arabians,  whom  Juba  has  incorrectly  de- 
scribed as  a satrap  of  King  Antiochus.  ’ Formerly,  Pliny  says,  it 
stood  near  the  shore  and  had  a harbor  of  its  own;  “but  now  stands  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  sea.  In  no  part  of  the  world  have 
alluvial  deposits  been  formed  by  the  rivers  more  rapidly  and  to  a greater 
extent  than  here.”  (At  the  present  day  it  is  about  40  miles  from  the 
gulf. ) 

Pliny’s  reference  to  the  possession  of  the  lower  Tigris  by  an 
Arabian  chieftain,  the  name  of  whose  city  he  extends  to  the  “Chara- 
cene’  ’ district  of  Elymais,  or  Elam,  indicates  how  large  a part  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Parthian  Empire  may  have  been  played,  at  the  date  of 
the  Periplus,  by  its  subjects  south  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  Charax  was  an 
important  stronghold  of  the  Parthian  Empire,  protecting  its  shipping 
trade;  and  was  the  home  of  that  Isidorus  whose  works,  written  in  the 
time  of  the  Roman  Emperor  Augustus,  include  the  Mansions  Parthica , 
a detailed  account  of  the  overland  caravan-route  from  Antioch  in  Syria 


150 


to  the  borders  of  India;  the  same,  probably,  as  the  author  of  the 
“description  of  the  world”  mentioned  by  Pliny  (VI,  31)  who  was 
commissioned  by  Augustus  ‘ ‘to  gather  all  necessary  information  in  the 
east,  when  his  eldest  son  was  about  to  set  out  for  Armenia  to  take  the 
command  against  the  Parthians  and  Arabians.” 

36.  A market-town  of  Persia  called  Ommana. — The 

Roman  geographers  were  much  confused  by  similar  statements  con- 
cerning this  port,  and  supposed  that  it  was  geographically,  instead  of 
politically,  “of  Persia,”  and  that  the  “six  days’  sail”  from  the  straits 
of  Hormus  mentioned  in  the  Periplus,  was  eastward  along  the  coast 
of  Makran.  But  Pliny  this  time  is  better  informed,  and  locates  it  on 
the  Arabian  side  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  between  the  Peninsula  of  El 
Katar  and  Ras  Musandum,  then  a Persian  or  Parthian  dependency. 
Beyond  the  river  Cynos  (Wadi  ed  Dawasir?)  he  says  (VI,  32)  “the 
navigation  is  impracticable  on  that  side,  according  to  Juba,  on  account 
of  the  rocks;  and  he  has  omitted  all  mention  of  Batrasave,  a town  of 
the  Omani,  and  of  the  city  of  Omana,  which  former  writers  have  made 
out  to  be  a famous  port  of  Carmania ; as  also  of  Homna  and  Attana, 
towns  which  at  the  present  day,  our  merchants  say,  are  by  far  the 
most  famous  ones  in  the  Persian  Sea.  ” 

The  spelling  “Ommana,”  as  distinct  from  “Omana,”  is  due  to 
Ptolemy,  and,  while  perhaps  incorrect  for  the  Periplus,  it  conven- 
iently distinguishes  between  the  two  districts.  Both  are  certainly 
the  same  as  the  modern  Oman,  which  maintains  a nominal,  as 
a century  ago  a real,  dominion  over  the  whole  coast-land  from  the 
bay  of  El  Katan  to  that  of  Kuria  Muria.  'J'his  was  no  doubt  the 
dominion  of  that  Goaesus  mentioned  by  Isidorus  of  Charax  Spasini, 
“King  of  the  Omanitae  in  the  Incense-Land,”  and  had  only  re- 
cently come  under  the  Parthian  control.  After  numerous  alterna- 
tions between  dependence  and  freedom  the  whole  country  submitted 
again  to  Persia  in  1650,  remaining  under  Persian  control  until  1741. 

The  exact  location  of  the  port  of  Ommana  is  uncertain  owing 
to  the  limited  knowledge  yet  at  hand  concerning  this  coast.  Ptolemy 
confirms  Pliny  in  locating  it  east  of  the  peninsula,  by  a river  Ommano, 
(possibly  the  Wadi  Yabrin,  an  important  trade-route)  and  Glaser 
argues  strongly  for  the  bay  of  El  Katan.  ( Skizze , pp.  189-194.)  Al- 
most any  location  between  Abu  Thabi  (24°  30’  N. , 54°  21”  E. ),  and 
Khor  ed  Duan  (24°  17'  N. , 51°  27'  E. ) might  be  possible,  but  the 
distance  stated,  six  days,  or  3000  stadia,  from  the  straits,  indicates 
Abu  Thanni  or  Sabakha,  at  both  of  which  there  are  fertile  spots  on 
the  coast;  El  Mukabber  on  the  Sabakha  coast  (24°  N. , 51°  45'  E. ) 
being  perhaps  more  closely  in  accord  with  Ptolemy. 


151 


Aside  from  the  obvious  linking  of  Apologus  and  Ommana  as 
Persian  Gulf  ports,  in  §§  35  and  36,  the  text  gives  two  further  proofs. 
The  “sewed  boats”  are  such  as  are  still  made  along  this  coast,  and 
the  wine  mentioned  in  § 36  as  an  export  to  India  is  referred  to  in 
§ 49  as  an  import  at  Barygaza  from  Arabia.  The  “many  pearls” 
exported,  and  in  fact  the  whole  list  of  imports  and  exports  in  § 36, 
suggest  such  a trade  as  now  centers  at  Bahrein. 

Muller,  Fabricius,  and  McCrindle  locate  Ommana  in  the  bay  of 
Chahbar  on  the  Makran  coast  (25°  15'  N. , 60°  30'  E. ),  reckoning 
the  six  days’  sail  eastward  from  the  Straits  of  Hormus;  and  Sir  Thomas 
Holdich  followed  them  in  his  Notes  on  Ancient  and  Mediceval  Makran 
(Geographical  Journal,  1896;  VII,  393-6).  It  is  notable  that  in  his 
Gates  of  India , 1910,  (pp.  299-300)  he  abandons  this  position  and  refers 
the  activity  of  the  Chahbar  ports  to  the  mediaeval  period.  General 
S.  B.  Miles  (Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  N.  S. , X,  pp. 
164-5)  argues  for  Sohar,  on  the  Batineh  coast  of  Oman,  north  of 
Muscat,  the  ocean  terminus  of  an  ancient  and  important  caravan-route; 
but  the  location  does  not  tally  with  the  statement  in  the  text,  that 
Ommana  was  six  days  through , or  beyond , the  Straits. 

Ommana  was  the  center  of  an  active  and  extensive  shipping  trade 
with  India,  conveniently  located  with  reference  to  the  trans-Arabian 
caravan-routes;  and  Glaser  points  out  the  probability  that  this  coast  of 
El  Katan  was  also  the  “land  of  Ophir”  of  King  Solomon’s  trading- 
voyages  ; a trading  center  where  the  products  of  the  East  were  re- 
ceived and  reshipped,  or  sent  overland,  to  the  Mediterranean. 

36.  Copper  is  here  mentioned  as  an  article  of  export  from 
India  to  the  Persian  Gulf.  It  is  no  longer  extensively  produced  in 
India,  but  was  formerly  smelted  in  considerable  quantities  in  South 
India,  Rajputana,  and  at  various  parts  of  the  outer  Himalaya,  where 
a killas-like  rock  persists  along  the  whole  range  and  is  known  to  be 
copper-bearing  in  Kullu,  Garhwal,  Nepal,  Sikkim,  and  Bhutan.  See 
the  authorities  cited  in  Watt,  Commercial  Products  of  India,  p.  401. 

But  it  is  possible  that  this  copper  imported  at  Ommana  included 
also  European  copper,  exported  from  Cana  (§  28)  to  the  Indus  mouth 
and  Barygaza  (§§  39  and  49)  and  thence  reshipped  to  the  Persian 
Gulf.  During  the  suspension  of  trade  between  the  Roman  and  Par- 
thian Empires,  owing  to  war,  this  would  have  been  a natural  trade 
arrangement. 

Pliny  (VI,  26)  speaks  of  copper,  iron,  arsenic,  and  red  lead,  as 
exports  of  Carmania,  whence  they  were  shipped  to  Persian  Gulf  and 
Red  Sea  ports  for  distribution;  indicating  again  that  Ommana  was  no 
Carmanian  port. 


152 


36.  Sandalwood. — Santalum  album , Linn. , order  Santalacea- 
A small  evergreen  tree  native  in  the  dry  regions  of  South  India  fas  the 
Western  Ghats,  Mysore,  and  Coimbatore)  ; in  North  India  chiefly  as 
a cultivated  plant.  Sandalwood  has  been  known  in  India  from  the 
most  ancient  times,  the  Sanskrit  authors  distinguishing  various  woods 
according  to  color.  Chandana  is  the  name  for  the  series,  srikhanda 
the  tree,  or  white,  sandal,  and  pitachandana  the  inferior,  or  yellow, 
sandal,  both  being  derived  from  Santalum  album.  They  distinguish 
two  kinds  of  red  sandal  or  raktachandana,  namely,  Pterocarpus  santalinus 
and  Ccesalpmia  sappan. 

This  mention  in  the  Periplus  seems  to  be  the  earliest  Roman 
reference  to  sandalwood.  It  is  mentioned  by  Cosmas  Indicopleustes 
(6th  century  A.  D.)  under  the  name  Txandana;  and  thereafter  fre- 
quently by  the  early  Arab  traders  who  visited  India  and  China.  Cos- 
mas  and  the  Arabs  attributed  it  to  China,  this  mistake  arising,  as  Watt 
points  out  {op.  cit . , p.  976)  from  the  fact  that  Chinese  vessels  at  this 
time  made  the  voyage  between  China  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  stopping 
to  trade  in  Ceylon  and  India,  and  disposing  of  their  cargoes  finally  to 
the  Bagdad  merchants.  The  wood  is  not  native  of  China. 

According  to  experiments  at  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens  at  Cal- 
cutta, sandalwood  is  a root-parasite  on  many  plants. 

For  further  references  see  Lassen:  Indische  Alterthumskunde , 
I,  287. 

36.  Teakwood. — Tectona  grandis,  Linn.,  order  Verbenacea.  A 
large  deciduous  tree  indigenous  in  both  peninsulas  of  India.  The 
wood  is  that  chiefly  exported  from  India  at  the  present  time,  particu- 
larly from  Burma,  and  is  the  most  important  building  timber  of  the 
country. 

Watt,  {op.  cit.,  p.  1068),  quoting  Gamble,  says  that  the  western 
Indian  teak  region  has  for  its  northern  limit  the  Narbada  and  Ma- 
hanadi  rivers,  although  it  is  occasionally  found  farther  north.  Climatic 
changes  since  the  date  of  the  Periplus  have  probably  restricted  its 
area.  It  is  plentiful  in  Bombay  and  Travancore. 

The  wood  owes  its  value  to  its  great  durability,  ascribed  to  the 
fact  that  it  contains  a large  quantity  of  fluid  resinous  matter,  which 
fills  up  the  pores  and  resists  the  action  of  water.  Watt  mentions  one 
structure  known  to  be  over  2000  years  old,  and  the  discovery  of  teak 
in  the  Mugheir  ruins  indicates  its  use  there  under  Nabonidus  (6th 
century  B.  C. ),  and  possibly  very  much  earlier. 

36.  Blackwood.— The  text  is  sasamin,  which  Fabricius  alters 
and  translates  “white  mulberry,”  from  conjecture  only.  McCrindle 
shows  that  the  text  refers  to  the  wood  still  known  in  India  as  sisam, 


153 


which  Watt  describes  {op.  cit.,  pp.  484-5)  as  one  of  the  best  hard- 
woods of  the  Panjab  and  Western  India.  It  is  very  durable,  does 
not  warp  or  split,  and  is  highly  esteemed  for  all  purposes  where 
strength  and  elasticity  are  required — agricultural  implements,  carriage- 
frames  and  wheels,  boat-building,  etc. — as  well  as  furniture  and 
wood-carving.  In  Upper  India  the  sisam  takes  the  place  of  rosewood, 
to  which  it  is  closely  related. 

Watt  distinguishes  the  true  sham  or  blackwood,  Dalbergia  sissoo, 
order  Leguminosee.  The  Indian  rosewood,  native  somewhat  farther 
south,  is  Dalbergia  latifolia.  D.  sissoo  is  described  as  sub-Himalayan, 
gregarious  on  the  banks  of  sandy,  stony,  torrential  rivers,  such  as  the 
Indus  and  Narbada,  from  which  the  Periplus  says  it  was  exported. 

36.  Ebony. — Diospyros,  Linn.,  order  Ebenacea.  Diospyros 
’benum  and  D.  melanoxylon  are  the  leading  varieties  producing  ebony 
wood;  India  has  also  D.  embryopteris  and  D.  tomentosa. 

This  fine  black  heart-wood  (from  the  date  plum  tree)  has  been 
in  favor  since  the  dawn  of  civilization.  An  Egyptian  inscription  of 
King  Mernere,  Vlth  dynasty  (B.  C.  about  2500),  mentions  ebony  as 
a product  brought  down  from  the  “negro-land”  on  the  Upper 
Nile;  and  the  expedition  of  Queen  Hatshepsut  (XVIIIth  dynasty, 
B.  C.  about  1500)  brought  it  from  the  “Land  of  Punt,”  in  this  case 
probably  from  the  Abyssinian  highlands,  although  it  might  have  come 
from  India. 

The  earliest  definite  Old  Testament  reference  is  in  Ezekiel 
XXVII,  where  it  appears  as  a commodity  in  the  trade  of  Tyre:  “the 
men  of  Dedan  were  they  merchants;  many  isles  were  the  merchan- 
dise of  thine  hand;  they  brought  thee  for  a present  horns  of  ivory  and 
ebony.”  If  the  Oxford  editor’s  identification  of  Dedan  with  the 
south  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf  be  correct,  this  passage  indicates  a 
steady  trade  in  ebony  from  India  prior  to  the  7th  century  B.  C.,  and 
exactly  confirms  the  statement  of  the  Periplus  that  it  was  shipped 
from  Barygaza  to  Ommana  and  Apologus. 

Pliny  (XII,  8,  9)  says  that  ebony  came  to  Rome  from  both  India 
and  Egypt,  and  that  the  trade  began  after  the  victories  of  Pompey  the 
Great  in  Asia.  He  notes  two  kinds,  one  precious,  the  other  ordinary. 
Virgil  ( Georgies  II,  116-117)  speaks  in  glowing  terms  of  the 
ebony  tree,  as  peculiar  to  India.  Herodotus,  however,  has  preferred 
to  ascribe  it  (III,  97)  to  Aethiopia,  and  states  that  the  people  of  that 
country  were  in  the  habit  of  paying  to  the  King  of  Persia,  every  third 
year,  by  way  of  tribute,  100  billets  of  ebony-wood,  together  with  a 
certain  quantity  of  gold  and  ivory. 


154 


36.  Sewed  boats  known  as  madarata. — Glaser  ( Skizze , 
p.  190)  shows  this  to  be  the  Arabic  muddarr-a  at,  “fastened  with  palm 
fiber,”  which  included,  first,  the  fibers  sheathing  the  base  of  the 
petioles  of  the  date;  and  second,  those  taken  from  the  husks  of  the 
cocoanut.  This  latter  is  what  Marco  Polo  calls  “Indian  nut.”  It 
was  a later  cultivation  in  Arabia  than  the  date,  and  the  Periplus  does 
not  include  it  among  Arabian  exports,  although  noting  it  in  § 33  as  a 
product  of  Sarapis  or  Masira  Island. 

The  text  notes  that  these  sewed  boats  were  exported  to  “Arabia,” 
meaning  the  South  Coast,  Yemen  and  Hadramaut. 


Marco  Polo  (I,  xix)  gives  a description  of  these  craft,  as  follows: 

“Their  ships  are  wretched  affairs,  and  many  of  them  get  lost; 
for  they  have  no  iron  fastenings,  and  are  only  stitched  together  with 
twine  made  from  the  husk  of  the  Indian  nut.  They  beat  this  nut 
until  it  becomes  like  horse-hair,  and  from  that  they  spin  twine,  and 
with  this  stitch  the  planks  of  the  ships  together.  It  keeps  well  and  is 
not  corroded  by  the  sea-water,  but  it  will  not  stand  well  in  a storm. 
The  ships  are  not  pitched,  but  are  rubbed  with  fish-oil.  They  have 


155 


one  mast,  one  sail,  and  one  rudder,  and  have  no  deck,  but  only  a 
cover  spread  over  the  cargo  when  loaded.  This  cover  consists  of 
hides,  and  on  the  top  of  these  hides  they  put  the  horses  which  they 
take  to  India  for  sale.  They  have  no  iron  to  make  nails  of,  and  for 
this  reason  they  use  only  wooden  trenails  in  their  shipbuilding,  and 
then  stitch  the  planks  with  twine  as  I have  told  you.  Hence  ’tis  a 
perilous  business  to  go  a voyage  in  one  of  those  ships,  and  many  of 
them  are  lost,  for  in  that  Sea  of  India  the  storms  are  often  terrible.’  ’ 

Gemelli  Carreri,  who  visited  this  coast  in  1693-9,  gives  a similar 
description,  quoted  by  Capt.  A.  W.  Stiffe:  Former  Trading  Centers  of 
the  Persian  Gulf:  Geographical  Journal,  XIII,  294: 

“Instead  of  nails,  which  they  are  without,  they  use  pegs  of  bam- 
boo or  cane,  and  further  join  the  planks  with  strings  made  of  rushes. 
For  anchor,  they  have  a large  stone  with  a hole,  and  for  oars,  a stout 
stick  with  a little  round  plank  attached  to  the  end.” 

“Stitched  vessels,”  Sir  B.  Frere  writes  (Yule’s  Marco  Polo,  Cor- 
dier’s  Ed.,  I,  117),  “are  still  used.  I have  seen  them  of  200  tons 
burden,  but  they  are  being  driven  out  by  iron-fastened  vessels,  as  iron 
gets  cheaper,  except  where  ( as  on  the  Malabar  and  Coromandel 
coasts)  the  pliancy  of  a stitched  boat  is  useful  in  a surf.”  But  the 
stitched  build  in  the  Gulf  is  now  confined  to  fishing-boats. 

The  fish-oil  used  to  rub  the  ships  was  whale-oil.  The  old  Arab 
voyagers  of  the  9th  century  describe  the  fishermen  of  Siraf  in  the  Gulf 
as  cutting  up  the  whale-blubber  and  drawing  the  oil  from  it,  which 
was  mixed  with  other  stuff,  and  used  to  rub  the  joints  of  ships’  plank- 
ing. (Reinaud,  Relation  des  Voyages , I,  146.) 

Friar  Odoric  ( Journal , Chap.  II),  writing  of  “Ormes,”  says 
“here  also  they  use  a kind  of  barque  or  ship  called  Jase,  being  com- 
pact together  only  with  cords.  And  I went  on  board  into  one  of 
them,  wherein  I could  not  find  any  iron  at  all,  and  in  the  space  of 
twenty-eight  days  I arrived  at  the  city  of  Thana”  (on  Salsette  Island, 
a short  distance  north  of  Bombay),  “wherein  four  of  our  friars  were 
martyred  for  the  faith  of  Christ.” 

Jase,  Cordier  observes,  is  the  Arabic  Djehaz. 

“Sir  John  Mandeville”  gives  a legend  arising  from  this  method 
of  construction  ( Voyage  and  Travel,  Chap.  LIII,  p.  125,  Ashton’s 
edition. ) Near  that  isle  (Hormus)  there  are  ships  without  nails  of  iron 
or  bonds,  on  account  of  the  rocks  of  adamants  (loadstones),  for  they 
are  all-abundant  there  in  that  sea  that  it  is  marvellous  to  speak  of,  and 
if  a ship  passed  there  that  had  iron  bonds  or  iron  nails  it  would  perish, 
for  the  adamant,  by  its  nature,  draws  iron  to  it,  and  so  it  would  draw 
the  ship  that  it  should  never  depart  from  it.” 


156 


Theodore  Bent  ( Southern  Arabia , p.  8)  describes  these  boats  as 
having  “very  long-pointed  bows,  elegantly  carved  and  decorated  with 
shells.  When  the  wind  is  contrary  they  are  propelled  by  poles  or 
paddles,  consisting  of  boards  of  any  shape,  tied  to  the  end  of  the  poles 
with  twine,  and  the  oarsman  always  seats  himself  on  the  gunwales.” 

Zwemer,  {op.  cit.,  p.  101),  further  confirms  the  Periplus: 

“Even  Sinbad  the  Sailor  might  recognize  every  rope  and  the  odd 
spoon-shaped  oars.  All  the  boats  have  good  lines  and  are  well  built 
by  the  natives  of  Indian  timber.  For  the  rest,  all  is  of  Bahrein  manu- 
facture except  their  pulley-blocks,  which  come  from  Bombay.  Sail- 
cloth is  woven  at  Menamah  and  ropes  are  twisted  of  date-fiber  in  rude 
ropewalks  which  have  no  machinery  worth  mentioning.  Even  the 
long  soft  iron  nails  are  hammered  out  on  the  anvil  one  by  one. 

“Each  boat  has  a sort  of  figurehead  called  the  kubait,  generally 
covered  with  the  skin  of  a sheep  or  goat  which  was  sacrificed  when 
the  boat  was  first  launched.  This  blood-sacrifice  Islam  has  never 
uprooted.  The  larger  boats  used  in  diving  hold  from  twenty  to  forty 
men — less  than  half  of  whom  are  divers,  while  the  others  are  rope- 
holders  and  oarsmen.” 

36.  Pearls  inferior  to  those  of  India.— This  is  said  still  to 
be  the  case,  the  Bahrein  pearls  being  of  a yellower  tint  than  those  of 
the  Manaar  fisheries,  but  holding  their  lustre  better,  particularly  in 
tropical  climates,  and  therefore  always  in  demand  in  India. 

36.  Purple.— A dye  derived  from  various  species  of  Murex , 
family  Muricida,  and  Purpura , family  Buccinida.  Pliny  (IX,  60-63) 
tells  of  its  use  at  the  time  of  our  author:  The  purple  has  that  ex- 
quisite juice  which  is  so  greatly  sought  after  for  the  purpose  of  dyeing 
cloth.  . . . This  secretion  consists  of  a tiny  drop  contained  in  a white 
vein,  from  which  the  precious  liquid  used  for  dyeing  is  distilled,  being 
of  the  tint  of  a rose  somewhat  inclining  to  black.  The  rest  of  the 
body  is  entirely  destitute  of  this  juice.  It  is  a great  point  to  take  the 
fish  alive;  for  when  it  dies  it  spits  out  this  juice.  From  the  larger 
ones  it  is  extracted  after  taking  off  the  shell;  but  the  smaller  fish  are 
crushed  alive,  together  with  the  shells,  upon  which  they  eject  this 
secretion. 

“In  Asia  the  best  purple  is  that  of  Tyre,  in  Africa  that  of  Meninx 
and  Gaetulia,  and  in  Europe  that  of  Laconia.  . . . 

“After  it  is  taken  the  vein  is  extracted  and  salt  is  added.  They  are 
left  to  steep  for  three  days,  and  are  then  boiled  in  vessels  of  tin,  by 
moderate  heat;  while  thus  boiling  the  liquor  is  skimmed  from  time  to 
time.  About  the  tenth  day  the  whole  contents  of  the  cauldron  are  in 
a liquid  state;  but  until  the  color  satisfies  the  liquor  is  still  kept  on  the 


157 


boil.  The  tint  that  inclines  to  red  is  looked  upon  as  inferior  to  that 
which  is  of  a blackish  hue. 

“The  wool  is  left  to  lie  in  soak  for  five  hours,  and  then,  after 
carding  it,  it  is  thrown  in  again,  until  it  has  fully  imbibed  the  color. 
The  proper  proportions  for  mixing  are,  for  fifty  pounds  of  wool,  two 
hundred  pounds  of  juice  of  the  buccinum  and  one  hundred  and  eleven 
of  the  juice  of  the  pelagia.  From  this  combination  is  produced  the 
admirable  tint  known  as  amethyst  color.  To  produce  the  Tyrian  hue 
the  wool  is  soaked  in  the  juice  of  the  pelagia  while  the  mixture  is  in 
an  uncooked  and  raw  state;  after  which  its  tint  is  changed  by  being 
dipped  in  the  juice  of  the  buccinum.  It  is  considered  of  the  best 
quality  when  it  has  exactly  the  color  of  clotted  blood,  and  is  of  a 
blackish  hue  to  the  sight,  but  of  a shining  appearance  when  held  up 
to  the  light;  hence  it  is  that  we  find  Homer  speaking  of  purple  blood. 
( Iliad,  E.  83;  P,  360.) 

“Cornelius  Nepos,  who  died  in  the  reign  of  the  late  emperor 
Augustus,  has  left  the  following  remarks:  ‘In  the  days  of  my  youth 
the  violet  purple  was  in  favor,  a pound  of  which  used  to  sell  at  100 
denarii;  and  not  long  after  the  Tarentine  red  was  all  the  fashion. 
This  last  was  succeeded  by  the  Tyrian  dibapha  (double  dyed)  which 
could  not  be  bought  for  even  1000  denarii  per  pound.  Nowadays 
who  is  there  who  does  not  have  purple  hangings  and  coverings  to  his 
banqueting  couches,  even?’ 

36.  Wine. — This  was  probably  date  wine.  Its  destination,  ac- 
cording to  § 49,  was  India. 

Sir  B.  Frere  ( Amoen . Exot.,  750,  quoted  in  Yule’s  Marco  Polo, 
Cordier’s  edition,  I,  115)  says  “a  spirit  is  still  distilled  from  dates.  It 
is  mentioned  by  Strabo  and  Dioscorides,  according  to  Kampfer,  who 
says  it  was  in  his  time  made  under  the  name  of  a medicinal  stomachic; 
the  rich  added  radix  Chinee  (rhubarb  root),  ambergris,  and  aromatic 
spices;  the  poor,  licorice  and  Persian  absinth.” 

This  may,  however,  have  included  grape  wine  also,  the  moun- 
tain valleys  of  Oman  having  been  the  region  originally  producing  the 
muscatel  grape. 

36.  Dates. — Phoenix  dactylifera,  Linn.,  order  Palmece.  Ac- 
cording to  De  Candolle  ( L ’ Origine  dec  Plantes  Cultivees,  240),  it  has 
existed  from  prehistoric  times  in  the  warm,  dry  zone  which  extends 
from  Senegal  to  the  Indus  basin,  principally  between  the  parallels  15° 
and  20°.  It  was  an  important  article  of  cultivation  in  Egypt,  Arabia, 
Mesopotamia,  and  the  Indus  valley,  for  its  wood,  fiber,  juice,  and 
fruit. 


158 


Date-wine  is  mentioned  as  an  Egyptian  product  shipped  up  the 
Nile  to  the  “negro-land,”  in  an  inscription  of  the  reign  of  Mernere, 
Vlth  dynasty,  about  2600  B.  C-  (Breasted,  Ancient  Records,  1,  336.) 
Dates  appear  as  food,  in  an  Abydos  inscription  of  the  reign  of  Khen- 
zer,  17th  century  B.  C.  (I,  785).  In  the  coronation  inscription  of 
Thothmes  III  and  Queen  Hatshepsut,  XVIIIth  dynasty,  15th  cen- 
tury B.  C.,  divine  offerings  to  Amon-Re  included  wine,  fowl,  fruit, 
bread,  vegetables,  and  dates  (II,  159).  Similar  lists  appear  among 
the  feasts  and  offerings  from  conquests  during  the  same  reign.  Under 
Rameses  III  (IV,  244,  295,  299,  347)  the  Papyrus  Harris  notes  as 
“offerings  for  new  feasts,”  dates,  65,480  measures,  3,100  cut 
branches;  again,  241,500  measures;  and  as  “offerings  to  the  Nile- 
god,”  dried  dates,  11,871  measures,  1,396  jars;  dates,  2,396  meas- 
ures. Later,  under  Psamtik  II,  XXVIth  dynasty,  6th  century  B.  C. 
(IV,  944)  the  Adoption  Stela  of  Nitocris  says:  “Sail  was  set;  the 
great  men  took  their  weapons,  and  every  noble  had  his  provision, 
supplied  with  every  good  thing:  bread,  beer,  oxen,  dates,  herbs.” 

The  Greek  name  for  the  date,  phoinix,  was  the  same  as  that 
given  the  traders  from  Sidon  and  Tyre — Phoenicians — Phoinikes, 
whence  numerous  commentators,  including  Movers  himself  (Die 
Phonizier,  II,  i,  1)  suppose  the  name  of  race  and  country  to  have 
been  derived  from  the  date,  which  was  one  of  the  leading  exports  to 
the  northern  Mediterranean;  noting  that  the  date-palm  was  a symbol 
of  that  race.  But  this  in  itself  is  better  evidence  that  the  tree  received 
the  name  of  the  race,  being  truly,  for  Mediterranean  peoples,  the 
“tree  of  the  Phoenicians.”  (So  Lepsius  in  the  introduction  to  his 
Nubian  Grammar,  Ueber  die  V'olker  und  Sprachen  Afrikas , and  Glaser, 
Punt  und  die  Sudarabischen  Reiche,  66-9). 

Pliny  (XIII,  7)  has  a long  description  of  the  date-palm  and  its 
numerous  uses;  he  says  the  Arabian  date  was  the  best,  and  describes 
fully  the  different  sexes  of  the  trees,  and  the  pollination  of  the  flowers. 
A specially  fine  variety  of  dates  comes  from  the  “southern  parts, 
called  Syagri,”  which  Pliny  translates  “wild  boar,”  ascribing  such  a 
taste  to  the  fruit;  but  as  he  connects  it  with  the  story  of  the  phoenix, 
his  account  means  no  more,  probably,  than  that  the  fruit  came  from 
the  southern  coast  of  Arabia.  (See  under  § 30. ) 

The  date-palm  being  dioecious,  the  flowers  must  be  artificially 
fertilized  in  order  to  ripen  the  fruit,  and  this  involves  a knowledge  of 
the  habit  of  the  tree,  and  regular  cultivation,  in  favorable  surroundings, 
including  intense  heat  and  drought  during  the  fruiting  season.  These 
conditions  are  only  partially  fulfilled  on  the  Syrian  coast,  and  not  at 
all  on  the  Northern  Mediterranean.  They  exist  to  perfection  around 


159 


the  Persian  Gulf,  still  the  principal,  and  probably  the  earliest,  source 
of  supply.  When  the  cultivation  became  important  in  Egypt  is  un- 
certain. The  earliest  inscription,  in  the  Vlth  dynasty,  refers  not  to 
the  fruit,  but  to  wine  (made  from  the  sap),  and  the  time  is  centuries 
later  than  the  first  Egyptian  Punt-voyages.  Not  until  the  17th  cen- 
tury does  the  Egyptian  date-fruit  appear  as  food,  and  not  until  the 
15th  as  temple-offering.  It  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  Egypt 
owed  this  cultivation  to  its  intercourse  with  Southern  Arabia  (the 
/W/-land)  whence  it  had  come  in  turn  from  the  Persian  Gulf,  that 
original  Phoenician,  Erythraean,  or  in  a larger  sense  Arabian,  Sea. 

Among  the  classical  references  to  this  home-land  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians may  be  cited  the  Odyssey,  IV,  81-5,  where  Sidonia  and  Aethi- 
opia  are  conjoined,  both  clearly  Arabian,  (cf.  Strabo,  I,  ii,  34-5;  XVI, 
iii,  4,  iv,  27.)  The  Old  Testament  gives  numerous  accounts  of 
later  migrations  from  that  quarter  to  Palestine;  e.  g.,  Zechariah  IX, 
6;  Ezra  IV,  9.  The  historian  Justin  (XVIII,  3,  2)  gives  the  reason 
for  the  earlier  migration:  “the  people  of  Tyre  were  sprung  from  the 
Phoenicians,  who  left  their  own  land,  being  greatly  distressed  by  earth- 
quakes, and  dwelt  some  time  in  the  marsh-land  of  Babylonia,  but 
later  by  the  shores  of  the  (Mediterranean)  Sea,  where  they  built  a 
town  which  they  called  Sidon  because  of  the  abundance  of  the  fish; 
for  sidon  is  the  Phoenician  word  for  fish.”  For  the  relation  of  this 
legend  to  the  fish-god  of  Chaldaea,  Oannes,  see  William  Simpson, 
The  Jonah  Legend.  The  connection  is  noted  by  the  poet  Priscian, 
843-7: 

sed  litora  iuxta 

Phcer.ices  vivunt  veteri  cognomine  dicti, 

Quos  misit  quondam  mare  rubrum  laudibus  auctos, 

Chaldaeo  nimium  decoratam  sanguine  gentem, 

Arcanisque  Dei  celebratam  legibus  unarm 


According  to  Eiselen,  Sidon,  p.  12:  (N.  Y.,  1907),  the  word 
sidon  means  to  hunt  rather  than  to  fish;  but  Simpson  shows  how 
readily  the  whole  legend  changed  according  to  the  surroundings  of 
the  people. 

As  to  the  race-origin  of  the  Phoenicians,  Syncellus  derives  them 
from  “Iudadan,”  and  Josephus  ( Antiq . Jud.,  I,  6,  2)  from  Dedan, 
who  was  a son  of  Raamah,  the  son  of  Cush,  according  to  the  gene- 
alogy of  Genesis  X.  A later  account  ( Chron.  Pasch.,  I,  54)  derives 
then;  from  Jobab,  whom  that  genealogy  makes  a son  of  Joktan.  This 
would  indicate  for  Phoenicia  precisely  the  same  experience  as  that  of 
Southern  Arabia:  succeeding  waves  of  migration,  the  later  tending  to 
become  absorbed  by  the  earlier. 


160 


It  is  significant  that  even  the  Greeks  knew  Phoenice  as  Canaan. 
Hecataeus  refers  to  “Chna,  as  Phoenice  was  formerly  called,”  and  the 
name  survived  as  late  as  an  inscription  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  being 
connected  with  the  legendary  hero  Chna,  who  can  be  no  other  than 
the  Canaan  of  Genesis  X,  a brother  to  Cush,  and  who  “begot  Sidon, 
his  firstborn.”  This  word,  according  to  Movers,  means  “lowland,” 
particularly  a strip  of  coast  under  the  hills;  and  the  same  meaning  is 
attached  to  Cush,  Cutch,  or  in  its  Indian  form,  Kachh  (Holdich, 
Gates  of  India , 35),  and  to  the  modern  Sawahil  of  East  Africa,  and 
Shehr  of  South  Arabia,  the  Sachalites  of  the  Periplus. 

Another  derivation  of  “Phoenician”  from  phonioi,  (bloody,  mur- 
derous), rests  on  the  activities  of  that  people  as  sea-folk,  traders  and 
pirates.  So  do  the  habits  of  the  race  survive  in  the  puns  of  the  Greeks. 
The  author  of  the  Periplus  (§  33)  found  the  dwellers  on  Sarapis  Island 
anthropois  ponerois,  and  the  Roman  shipping  out  of  Egypt  had  always 
to  go  armed  or  under  convoy. 

36.  Gold. — The  Periplus  mentions  gold  coin  as  an  export  from 
Rome  to  India,  but  gold  itself  as  an  export  from  Ommana  only,  and 
as  a product  of  the  Ganges  region. 

Gold  was  an  important  product  of  Eastern  Arabia,  the  best  fields 
being  in  the  middle  courses  of  the  Wadi  er  Rumma,  the  Wadi  ed 
Dawasir,  and  the  Wadi  Yabrin.  Glaser  ( Skizze , 347-9)  locates  alto- 
gether ten  Arabian  gold-fields.  It  was  this  production  that  led  the 
Assyrian  Tiglath-Pileser  III  to  refer  to  gold  as  the  “dust  of  the  coun- 
try” of  Merodach-Baladan,  king  of  Bit-Yakin,  and  to  make  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  ports  centers  also  for  the  gold  produced  farther  to  the  east, 
in  Persia,  Carmania,  and  the  Himalayas.  The  watercourses  of  north- 
eastern Arabia  were  probably  the  producing  areas  of  the  “land  of 
Havilah”  of  Genesis  II,  11-12,  which  could  readily  supply  caravans 
for  Chaldaea  or  Canaan;  while  El-Yemama  and  the  southern  fields,  of 
richer  yield,  were  probably  the  “land  of  Ophir”  of  Solomon’s  voyages 
(I  Kings  X)  ; and  according  to  the  tribal  genealogy  (Genesis  X,  29) 
Ophir  was  a son  of  Joktan  and  therefore  purely  Arabian.  Into  this 
voluminous  controversy  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  farther;  the  evidence 
is  summed  up  by  Glaser  ( Skizze , 357-388). 

To  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the  “gold  of  Ophir”  was  known  as 
apyron , which  Diodorus  Siculus  (II,  50)  assumes  to  be  a Greek  word, 
“without  fire,”  and  goes  on  to  explain  that  it  was  not  reduced  by 
roasting  the  ores,  but  was  found  in  the  earth  in  shining  lumps  the  size 
of  chestnuts.  Agatharchides  and  Pliny  (XXI,  11)  are  both  acquainted 
with  this  apyron  gold,  and  Pliny  (VI,  23)  mentions  also  a river  Apirus 


161  • 


in  Carmania,  in  a region  previously  described  by  Alexander’s  admiral, 
Onesicritus,  as  gold-producing. 

To  the  mixed  Cushite-Joktanite  Havilah  of  Genesis,  the  Joktanite 
Ophir  of  I Kings,  and  the  Cushite  Raamah  of  Ezekiel  XXVII,  the 
cosmopolitan  Ommana  of  the  Periplus,  under  Parthian  rule,  was  the 
lineal  successor. 

36.  Slaves. — The  Arabs  were  inveterate  slave-traders  then  as 
now,  and  the  ports  of  Oman  were  always  active  slave-markets.  Ara- 
bian dominion  along  the  African  coast  had  this  as  one  of  its  principal 
results,  until  checked  by  international  agreement  after  European  occu- 
pation. 

37.  The  Country  of  the  Parsidae,  of  another  kingdom. 

The  author  of  the  Periplus  gives  the  name  Persis,  or  Persia,  to  the 
whole  Parthian  Empire  and  refers  to  the  recent  conquests  of  that 
power  in  East  and  South  Arabia.  This  “country  of  the  Parsidae”  is 
Persia  proper,  including  Carmania;  a vassal  state  in  the  Arsacid  fol- 
lowing, which  would  not  have  shared,  as  a state,  in  the  Arabian  spoils 
of  the  empire.  Ommana  was  subject  to  the  Parthian  monarchy,  not 
to  Persia  proper. 

Pliny  (VI,  28)  says  “Persia  is  a country  opulent  even  to  luxury, 
but  has  long  since  changed  its  name  for  that  of  ‘Parthia.’  ’’  Strabo 
(VI,  iii,  24)  observes  more  exactly,  “at  present  the  Persians  are  a 
separate  people,  governed  by  kings  who  are  subject  to  other  kings; 
to  the  kings  of  Macedon  in  former  times,  but  now  to  those  of  Parthia.  ’ ’ 

37.  The  Bay  of  Gedrosia,  while  hardly  a separate  bay  at 
all,  may  be  assumed  to  be  that  bounded  by  the  strip  of  coast  between 
Ras  Nuh  (25°  7'  N.,  62°  18'  E. ) and  Cape  Monze  (24°  45'  N., 
66°  40'  E. ),  while  the  “jutting  cape”  is  Ras  Ormara  (25°  6'  N. , 
64°  36'  E.). 

37.  Oraea. — The  bay  is  the  modern  Sonmiani  Bay  (25°  0'  N. , 
66°  15'  E. ),  and  the  river  is  the  Purali.  According  to  Holdich,  the 
Purali  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus  emptied  into  a bay  running  some 
distance  inland,  and  now  silted  up  to  the  coast  lines.  These  are  the 
people  described  by  Arrian  ( Anabasis  of  Alexander , VI,  21-2;  Indica, 
XXI,  XXiy,  XXV ) under  the  name  of  Oritae  or  Oritians,  their  country 
being  called  Ora.  The  river  was  called  Arabis,  and  on  its  eastern 
bank  dwelt  “an  Indian  nation  called  Arabians;”  while  the  Oritae  on 
the  western  bank  were  “dressed  like  the  Indians  and  equipped  with 
similar  weapons,  but  their  language  and  customs  were  different.  ” 
Their  coast-line  ran  westward  from  the  Arabis  160  miles;  or,  accord- 
ing to  Pliny  (VI,  25-6),  200  miles.  They  dwelt  on  the  inland  hills, 


162 


and  along  the  shore,  the  latter  being  distinguished  as  Fish-Eaters. 
Alexander  conquered  the  hill-folk  and  colonized  their  capital,  Rham- 
bacia,  under  his  own  name  (Diodorus  Siculus,  XVI,  104);  while 
Nearchus  fought  the  coast-folk,  reporting  them  “covered  with  hair 
on  the  body,  their  nails  like  wild  birds’  claws,  used  like  iron  for  kill- 
ing and  splitting  fish,  and  cutting  soft  wood;  other  things  they  cut 
with  sharp  stones,  having  no  iron.”  Strabo  (XV,  ii,  2)  describes 
their  dwellings,  made  of  the  bones  of  whales  and  great  shells;  the 
ribs  being  used  for  beams  and  rafters,  and  the  jawbones  for  doorways. 

Here  are  more  echoes  of  the  early  migrations  that  radiated  out- 
ward from  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  river  Arabis  and  the  Arabians  are 
sufficiently  reminiscent  of  Arabia,  while  the  capital,  Rhambacia,  ap- 
pears in  Ptolemy  as  a city  of  the  Rhamnae,  derived  from  the  same 
source.  The  Oritae  are  represented  by  the  modern  Brahui.  Both 
names  have  the  same  meaning,  “hill-folk,”  one  in  Greek  and  the 
other  in  Persian;  but  this  is  probably  no  more  than  a punning  trans- 
lation, like  that  of  Makran  into  Main  Khuran , Ichthyophagi,  “fish- 
eaters.”  The  country  of  Ora  is  rather  related  to  the  Uru  of  Chal- 
daean  place-names;  being  connected  with  the  sun-worship  that  survived 
well  into  the  Christian  era.  The  Brahui  are  a Dravidian  tribe  left 
behind  by  their  race  on  its^way  to  Southern  India;  in  earlier  days  the 
connection  of  both  with  the  Persian  Gulf  was  less  broken.  The 
name  “Makran,’’  as  shown  by  Curzon  ( Geographical  Journal , VII, 
557)  is  Dravidian;  while  “Brahui”  is  thought  to  refer  to  the  hero  of 
the  tribe,  Braho,  a name  having  the  same  root  as  Abraham  ( Imperial 
Gazetteer  of  India , IX,  15-17).  These  people  are  probably  the  same 
as  those  called  by  Herodotus  (III,  94)  “Asiatic  Aethiopians,’ ’ and 
again  (VII,  70)  as  “Aethiopians  from  the  sunrise,  ” who  were  similar 
to  the  Aethiopians  of  Southern  Arabia,  both  peoples  being  represented 
in  the  Persian  army,  and  both  having  presumably  sprung  from  the 
same  stock;  as  witness  the  record  in  Genesis  X,  7,  the  sons  of 
Cush:  Seba,  and  Havilah,  and  Sabtah,  and  Raamah,  and  Sabteca; 
and  the  sons  of  Raamah:  Sheba,  and  Dedan.”  The  Cushite  name 
seems  to  survive  in  Kej,  in  the  valley  of  Makran;  the  “Kesmacoran” 
of  Marco  Polo. 

The  names  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the  XXVth  or  “Aethiopian” 
dynasty  in  Egypt,  point  to  a like  origin:  Kashta,  Shabaka,  Piankhi 
( cf  Pa-anch,  Poen,  etc.),  and  Taharka  ( cf.  Katar,  Socotra). 

Wellsted  (I,  ch.  v)  noted  the  strong  racial  similarity  between  the 
Beni  Genab  in  South  Arabia  and  the  people  found  on  the  Makran 
coast.  Holdich  ( Geographical  Journal , VII,  388)  finds  the  island  of 
Haftalu  off  the  Makran  coast — the  Astola  of  Ptolemy,  a center  of  the 


163 


sun-worship — locally  known  as  Serandip;  a name  which  the  Saracens 
gave  to  Ceylon,  but  which,  apart  from  its  last  syllable,  the  Sanscrit 
dvipa,  island,  seems  to  be  related  to  the  island  of  Sera,  Sarapis,  or 
Masira,  off  the  Arabian  coast. 

The  evident  connection  between  both  wings  of  this  system  is 
generalized  by  Gotz  ( Verkehrsvoege  mi  Dienste  des  TVelthandels,  33-117) 
as  “Turanian-Hamitic.  ” 

Holdich  ( Gates  of  India,  36)  seems  to  have  in  mind  a race  re- 
sembling African  negroes  as  the  original  of  the  “ Asiatic  Aethiopi- 
ans”  in  Makran.  But  their  descent  should  have  been  from  the 
Persian  Gulf.  “Sir  John  Mandeville  ” (chap,  xxiv)  gives  a legend 
which  in  some  ways  seems  nearer  the  truth : 

“Noah  had  three  sons,  Shem,  Cham  and  Japhet  . . . Cham, 
for  his  cruelty,  took  the  greater  and  the  best  part,  toward  the  east,  that 
is  clept  Asia,  and  Shem  took  Africa,  and  Japhet  took  Europe  . . . 
Cham  was  the  greatest  and  the  most  mighty,  and  of  him  came  more 
generations  than  of  the  other.  And  of  his  son  Chuse  was  engen- 
dered Nimrod  the  giant,  that  began  the  foundation  of  the  tower  of 
Babylon  • . . And  of  the  generation  of  Cham  be  come  the  Paynims 
and  divers  folk  that  be  in  isles  of  the  sea  by  all  Ind.” 

See  also  Lassen,  op.  cit.,  II,  187-191;  Sir  Thomas  Holdich,  Gates 
of  India,  pp.  146-161;  and  Gen.  M.  R.  Haig,  Geographical  Journal , 
VII,  668-674. 

37.  Rhambacia. — The  name  of  the  capital  is  not  given  in  the 
text,  but  Muller  fills  the  lacuna  with  that  mentioned  by  Arrian.  Fabri- 
cius  prefers  Parsis,  the  capital  of  Gedrosia  according  to  Ptolemy;  but 
this  place  was  probably  much  farther  west. 

Rhambacia  was  at  no  great  distance  from  the  modern  Las  Bela 
(26°  26’  N.,  66°  20'  E. ).  According  to  Holdich  ( Gates  of  India, 
320,  372),  this  whole  neighborhood  is  full  of  evidences  of  early 
Arabian  occupation;  but  the  exact  site  is  undetermined  (150-1). 

The  tribe-name,  Rhamnae,  Lassen  connects  with  the  Sanscrit 
ramana,  happy;  which,  while  possibly  a mere  pun,  may  explain  the 
Hindu  name  “blessed”  for  Socotra,  which  had  been  identified  with 
Raamah,  or  Cushite  stock  generally.  The  root  of  So-rs/r-a  is  evidently 
the  same  as  El  Katar  peninsula,  adjoining  Bahrein. 

Shamarida,  “precious,”  an  Arabic  name  for  the  mountain  at  the 
Straits  of  Hormus;  the  “Island  of  the  Blest”  of  the  Babylonian 
Gilgamesh  epic;  may  these  reflect  a Cushite  race-appellation,  like 
the  “chosen  people”  of  the  Hebrews? 

37.  Bdellium  is  an  aromatic  gum  exuded  from  Balsamodendron 
mukul,  order  Burseracea,  a small  tree  native  in  northwestern  India, 


164 


Beluchistan,  Arabia,  and  East  Africa;  closely  allied  to  myrrh  and 
frankincense,  and  similarly  employed  from  a very  early  date.  Ac- 
cording to  Pliny  (XII,  19)  the  best  sort  came  from  Bactria,  and  the 
inferior  from  India  and  Arabia,  Media  and  Babylonia.  The  gum,  he 
says,  “ought  to  be  transparent  and  the  color  of  wax,  odoriferous, 
unctuous  when  subjected  to  friction,  and  bitter  to  the  taste,  though 
without  the  slightest  acidity.  When  used  for  sacred  purposes  it  is 
steeped  in  wine,  upon  which  it  emits  a still  more  powerful  odor.” 
The  price  in  Rome  he  states  as  3 denarii  per  pound,  making  it  equal 
only  to  the  poorest  quality  of  myrrh. 

Bdellium  was  particularly  the  product  of  the  hills  between  the 
Hindu  Kush  and  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  found  its  way  westward 
through  the  Persian  Gulf  ports  or  overland  through  Babylonia.  Arrian 
(. Anabasis , VI,  22)  tells  how  the  army  of  Alexander,  returning  through 
the  country  of  the  Oritae,  came  upon  “many  myrrh  trees,  larger  than 
usual,”  from  which  the  Phoenician  traders  accompanying  the  army 
gathered  the  gum  and  carried  it  away.  It  is  probably  the  bdolach  of 
Genesis  II,  12,  which  reached  the  Hebrews  from  the  “land  of 
Havilah,”  the  south  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  the  district  of  Ommana 
of  § 36.  Bdolach , however,  is  thought  by  some  Hebrew  authorities 
to  be  a crystalline  gem;  while  the  same  word  is  used  in  the  Itinerary 
of  Benjamin  of  Tudela  (Adler’s  edition,  p.  98)  for  the  pearls  of  the 
Bahrein  fisheries,  and  with  the  same  meaning  in  the  Meadows  of  Gold 
o-f  Mas’udi  (Sprenger’s  translation,  p.  544).  See  also  Watt,  op.  cit., 
p.400;  Lassen,  op.  cit.,  1,290;  Glaser,  Skizze,  324-5,  364-7. 

A passage  in  the  Book  of  Numbers  (XI,  7)  is  perhaps  of  interest 
as  reflecting  the  ancient  classification  of  fragrant  gums  by  size  and 
shape  of  the  piece,  rather  than  by  distinguishing  the  tree.  The 
manna  of  the  Israelites  is  there  said  (in  the  R.  V. ) to  have  been  like 
coriander  seed,”  and  the  “ appearance  thereof  as  the  appearance  of 
bdellium.’  ’ The  A.  V.  has  the  “ color  as  the  color  of  bdellium,”  in 
contradiction  to  Exodus  XVI,  31,  where  the  color  was  said  to  be 
white;  bdellium  being  brown,  like  myrrh.  The  marginal  note  in 
the  Revised  Version,  “Hebrew,  eye,  ” points  to  the  true  meaning. 
Glaser  has  already  shown  the  anti  incense  of  the  Egyptian  Punt  Reliefs 
to  be  an  Arabian  word,  a-a-nete,  “tree-eyes”  ( Punt  und  die  Siidarab- 
ischen  Reiche,  p.  7),  and  to  refer  to  the  large  lumps,  exuded  through 
cracks  in  the  bark,  or  through  substantial  incisions,  as  distinguished 
from  the  small  round  drops,  which  were  supposed  to  be  tree-tears 
(§  29)  or  the  the  tree-blood  (as  shown  under  § 29).  The  Hebrews 
after  the  Exodus  would  have  had  the  same  classification;  so  we  may 
conclude  that  the  author  of  Numbers  meant  to  compare  the  small 


165 


crystalline  particles  of  the  tamarisk-root  syrup,  which  this  manna  prob- 
ably was,  to  the  “coriander  seed,  white,”  while  the  larger  and  coarser 
efflorescence  was  likened  to  the  lumps  of  bdellium  (or  myrrh)  with 
which  he  was  familiar  in  the  Levitical  ritual. 

38.  River  Sinthus. — The  Sanscrit  is  Sindhu,  and  this  form 
Sinthus  is  unusual  in  Greek,  the  river  being  generally  known  as  Indus. 
Hindu  names  reaching  the  West  generally  drop  the  s and  substitute  h 
in  Persian  mouths.  Sayce,  in  his  Hibbert  Lectures  (pp.  136-138), 
argues  on  that  basis  for  an  ancient  sea-trade  between  India  and  the 
Euphrates,  from  the  word  sindhu , or  muslin,  mentioned  in  an  ancient 
Babylonian  list  of  clothing.  This  is  the  fadin  of  the  Old  Testament, 
the  sindbn  of  the  Greeks. 

38.  The  greatest  river. — The  Indus  is  exceeded  by  the 
Yangtse,  Mekong,  Irawadi,  Brahmaputra,  Ganges,  and  Shatt-el-Arab 
(none  of  which  had  been  seen  by  the  author  of  the  Periplus).  Its 
mean  discharge  is  greater  than  that  of  the  Hoang-ho.  The  sediment 
brought  down  is  very  great,  forming  in  a single  year  an  island  65 
square  miles  in  area  and  1 yard  deep.  The  delta  projects  little  beyond 
the  normal  coast-line,  owing  to  the  distribution  of  silt  along  shore  by 
the  ocean  currents,  and  to  the  deposit  of  the  remainder  in  a vast  sub- 
marine trough  1200  feet  deep  and  upwards,  due  south  of  the  river 
mouths.  fReclus,  Asia,  III,  139.) 

38.  Graae  is  the  Sanscrit  graha.  The  presence  of  great  water- 
snakes  is  still  observed  along  these  coasts,  in  the  bays  and  at  the  mouths 
of  rivers. 

38.  Barbaricum.— This  name  is  evidently  Hellenized  from 
some  Hindu  word — one  suspects  Bandar,  port,  or  possibly  some  name 
such  as  Bahardipur,  which  survives  in  the  modern  Delta.  With  the 
steady  silting  of  the  Delta,  the  remains  of  this  port  are  probably  yards 
deep  in  the  soft  alluvium,  and  very  likely  quite  away  from  any  of  the 
present  branches  of  the  river. 

Shah-bandar  (Royal  Port),  formerly  accessible  to  men-of-war, 
now  lies  far  inland  to  the  east  of  the  present  main  channel  of  the 
Indus,  while  a similar  fate  has  overtaken  Ghora  Bari  or  Vikkar,  Keti, 
and  other  places.  Since  the  opening  of  the  Karachi  railway  most 
of  these  fever-stricken  towns  have  been  abandoned. 

38.  Minnagara  was  a name  given  temporarily  to  several  cities 
of  India  during  the  period  of  the  occupation  by  the  Scyths  (the  Saka 
and  Yueh-chi).  After  the  collapse  of  the  Indo-Scythian  power  these 
cities  resumed  their  former  names  with  their  autonomy. 


166 


This  Minnagara  may  be  identified  with  the  Patala  of  Alexander’s 
expedition — the  capital  of  the  delta  country.  Vincent  Smith  locates 
it  at  Bahmanabad,  25°  50'  N. , 68°  50'  E.,  about  six  miles  west  of 
the  modern  Mansuriyah.  The  site  was  discovered  by  M.  Bellasis  in 
1854,  and  includes  extensive  prehistoric  remains.  The  Indus  delta 
has  grown  greatly  since  our  author’s  time,  and  the  courses  of  the 
Indus  and  all  its  tributaries  have  changed  repeatedly.  Vincent  Smith 
says  that  the  apex  of  the  delta  was  probably  about  forty  miles  north  of 
that  place,  approximately  26°  40'  N.,  68°  30'  E.  He  cites  numerous 
facts  to  prove  that  the  coast-line  has  advanced  anywhere  from  20  to 
40  miles  since  Alexander’s  time.  The  Rann  of  Cutch  (Eirinon), 
now  a salt  marsh,  he  thinks  was  a broad  open  arm  of  the  sea  running 
to  25°  N.,  with  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Indus  emptying  into  it. 
Silt  brought  down  by  the  river  and  formed  into  great  bars  washed 
southward  by  the  violent  tides,  has  now  closed  the  mouth  of  the  Rann 
almost  entirely.  The  coast-line  he  thinks  may  have  averaged  25°  N. 
from  Karachi  to  the  Rann  of  Cutch. 

Reclus  (Asia,  III,  142-5)  says  the  Rann  was  probably  open  sea 
until  about  the  4th  century,  when  a series  of  violent  earthquakes  ele- 
vated this  whole  region  considerably.  He  reports  ruins  at  Nagar 
Parkar,  at  the  northeast  corner,  indicating  a large  sea-port  trade  there. 

These  changes  may  have  been  one  cause  of  the  great  migration 
from  this  region  to  Java  in  the  6th  and  7th  centuries  A.  D. 

38.  Parthian  princes. — The  reference  to  the  rule  of  “Par- 
thian princes”  over  the  “metropolis  of  Scythia”  is  very  interesting. 
The  first  horde  from  Central  Asia  to  overrun  the  Pamirs  was  the 
Saka,  fleeing  before  the  Yueh-chi.  They  settled  in  the  Cabul  valley, 
Seistan  (Sakastene),  and  the  lower  Indus.  By  about  120  B.  C.  their 
leader  Manes  had  established  a kingdom  at  Cabul,  subject  to  Parthia; 
his  line  was  known  as  the  “Indo-Parthian,  ” but  his  race  was,  roughly 
speaking,  “Scythian.”  Gradually  the  Yueh-chi  pursued  the  Saka, 
first  conquering  Greek  Bactria  (they  are  referred  to  in  this  text,  §47, 
as  the  “very  warlike  nation  of  the  Bactrians, ” living  in  the  interior). 
Their  king,  Kadphises  I,  conquered  Cashmere  and  the  upper  Indus; 
his  son,  Kadphises  II,  who  acceded  about  85  A.  D.,  after  a disastrous 
defeat  at  Kuche  by  the  pursuer  of  the  Yueh-chi,  the  Chinese  con- 
quering general  Pan-Chao — about  90  A.  D.  —directed  his  armies 
southward  and  rapidly  overran  the  Panjab  and  the  lower  Indus,  and 
then  reached  the  upper  Ganges  and  interior  points  like  Indore. 

Both  races  were  called  by  the  Sanscrit  “Min”  or  Scyths;  the 
Periplus  shows  the  Indo-Parthians  ruling  in  the  ‘ metropolis  of 
Scythia,”  then  at  the  apex  of  the  Indus  delta;  showing  their  power 


167 


in  the  Kabul  valley  to  have  been  broken  already  by  the  Yueh-chi  or 
“Rushan”  dynasty,  but  their  subsequent  complete  conquest  by  the 
Yueh-chi  had  not  yet  been  consummated. 

The  political  conditions  described  in  the  Periplus  were  probably 
those  that  followed  the  death  of  Gondophares,  the  last  powerful  Indo- 
Parthian  ruler  in  the  Panjab.  This  is  supposed  to  have  occurred  about 
51  A.  D.  After  some  years  of  anarchy  and  civil  war,  the  Saka  power 
was  again  consolidated  under  two  lines  of  rulers;  the  “Northern  Sa- 
traps” from  the  Indus  to  the  Jumna,  and  the  “Western  Satraps”  in 
Kathiawar,  Gujarat  and  Malwa.  Both  these  dynasties  were  at  first 
tributary,  and  later  subject  to  the  Kushan  power. 

More  distant  southern  raiding  by  the  Indo-Parthians  led  to  the 
“Pallava”  dynasties  along  the  west  coast,  which  after  a couple  of 
centuries  succeeded  in  gaining  control  of  much  of  Southern  India. 
These  princes  were  thought  by  Fabricius  to  be  the  ones  referred  to 
in  § 52  as  ruling  in  Calliena,  near  Bombay. 

39.  Figured  linens. — The  text  is  polymita.  Pliny  (VIII,  74) 
says:  “Babylon  was  very  famous  for  making  embroidery  in  different 
colors,  and  hence  stuffs  of  this  kind  have  obtained  the  name  of 
Babylonian.  The  method  of  weaving  cloth  with  more  than  two 
threads  was  invented  at  Alexandria;  these  cloths  are  called  polymita-, 
it  was  in  Gaul  that  they  were  first  divided  into  chequers.  ” 

Martial’s  epigram,  “ Cubicularia polymita ” (XIV,  150)  indicates 
that  the  Egyptian  tissue  was  formed  in  a loom,  like  tapestry,  and  that 
the  Babylonian  was  embroidered  with  the  needle. 

39.  Topaz.  The  text  is  chrysolithos.  This  stone,  according  to 
Pliny,  came  from  Aethiopia  (Abyssinia)  and  islands  in  the  Red  Sea; 
and  he  adds  that  the  best  sort  came  from  India.  Here  is  a confusion  be- 
tween two  kinds  of  stone;  the  Red  Sea  gem  being  the  true  topaz  and 
the  Indian  either  chrysolite  or  yellow  sapphire.  The  knowledge  of 
the  Romans  in  regard  to  precious  stones  was  vague,  and  we  are  apt  to 
be  led  astray  by  assuming  that  because  we  have  borrowed  the  Greek 
or  Latin  name  we  have  applied  it  to  the  same  stone. 

The  chrysolithos  mentioned  in  the  text  was  almost  certainly  our 
topaz,  which  was  produced  in  abundance  in  the  Red  Sea  islands,  being 
an  important  item  in  the  east-bound  exports  of  Egypt,  under  the 
Ptolemies  and  Rome. 

Strabo  says:  (XVI,  iv,  6)  “After  Berenice  is  the  island  Ophiodes. 
It  was  cleared  of  the  serpents  by  the  king,  on  account  of  the  topazes 
found  there.  . . . A body  of  men  was  appointed  and  maintained  by  the 
kings  of  Egypt  to  guard  and  maintain  the  place  where  these  stones 
were  found,  and  superintend  the  collection  of  them.  ” 


168 


It  is  remarkable  that  the  Periplus  does  not  mention  emeralds  also 
as  an  export  from  Berenice  to  India.  There  was  a large  production 
from  mines  in  the  hills  just  west  of  our  author’s  home.  They  may 
have  fetched  better  prices  in  Rome  than  in  India,  where  they  would 
have  had  to  compete  with  the  native  beryls. 

For  a description  of  these  mines,  as  well  as  of  the  present  appear- 
ance of  the  site  of  Berenice,  see  Bent,  Southern  Arabia , 291-7. 

39.  Coral.  See  also  §§28  and  49.  This  was  the  red  coral  of 
the  Western  Mediterranean,  which  was  one  of  the  principal  assets  of 
the  Roman  Empire  in  its  trade  with  the  East.  Pliny  observes  with 
some  surprise  (XXXII,  11)  that  coral  was  as  highly  prized  in  India 
as  were  pearls  at  Rome.  The  Gauls  formerly  ornamented  their 
swords,  shields  and  helmets  with  coral,  but  after  the  Indian  trade  was 
opened  and  its  export  value  increased,  it  became  extremely  scarce 
with  them. 

Tavernier  ( Travels  in  India,  II,  xxiii)  found  the  same  conditions 
in  his  time:  “Although  coral  does  not  rank  among  precious  stones 
in  Europe,  it  is  nevertheless  held  in  high  esteem  in  the  other  quarters 
of  the  globe,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  nature’s  produc- 
tions, so  that  there  are  some  nations  who  prefer  it  to  precious  stones.'  ’ 

Ball,  in  his  notes  on  Tavernier  (II,  136),  ascribes  the  preference 
for  coral  to  “the  way  its  tints  adapt  themselves  to  set  off  a dark  skin, 
and  also  look  well  with  a white  garment.  ” 

It  was  also  valued  for  its  supposed  sacred  properties,  and  the  be- 
lief in  its  uses  as  a charm  continued  through  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
even  to  the  present  day  in  Italy,  where  it  is  worn  as  a protection 
against  the  evil  eye. 

The  principal  red  coral  fisheries,  then  as  now,  were  in  Sicily, 
Sardinia  and  Corsica,  near  Naples,  Leghorn  and  Genoa,  in  Catalonia, 
the  Balearic  Islands  and  the  coasts  of  Tunis,  Algeria  and  Morocco. 
Tavernier  describes  the  method  of  fishing  by  swabs” — crossed 
rafters,  weighted,  and  bound  with  twisted  hemp,  which  were  let  down 
and  entangled  amongst  the  coral  on  the  rocky  bottom,  breaking  more 
than  they  caught.  For  a fuller  description,  see  Encyclopedia  Britannica , 
art.  “Coral.’’ 

Red  coral  is  Corallium  rubrum,  family  Gorgonide. 

There  was  black  coral  in  abundance  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  others 
along  the  Arabian  coast,  but  these  were  not  prized  so  highly.  See 
Haeckel,  Arabische  Korallen. 

39.  CostUS. — This  is  the  cut  root  of  Saussurea  lappa , order  Com- 
posite, a tall  perennial,  growing  on  the  open  slopes  of  the  vale  of 
Kashmir,  and  other  high  valleys  of  that  region,  at  elevations  of  8,000 


169 


to  13,000  feet.  In  the  Roman  Empire  it  was  used  as  a culinary 
spice,  also  as  a perfume,  entering  into  many  of  the  ointments,  though 
in  less  quantity  than  pepper  and  cinnamon.  The  Revised  Version 
gives  it  as  a marginal  reading  for  Exodus  XXX,  24,  in  place  of  cassia, 
as  one  of  the  ingredients  of  the  anointing  oil  of  the  Hebrew  priests. 

The  root  was  dug  up  and  cut  into  small  pieces,  and  shipped  to 
both  Rome  and  China.  Vincent  describes  the  root  as  being  the  size 
of  a finger;  a yellowish  woody  part  within  a whitish  bark.  The 
cortex  is  brittle,  warm,  bitterish,  and  aromatic,  of  an  agreeable  smell, 
resembling  orris. 

Chishull  ( Antiq . Asiat . , 71)  notes  that  the  gifts  from  Seleucus 
Callinicus  to  the  Milesians  included  frankincense,  10  talents;  myrrh, 
1 talent;  cassia,  2 pounds;  cinnamon,  2 pounds;  costus,  1 pound. 

By  the  Romans  costus  was  often  called  simply  radix , the  root,  as 
distinguished  from  nard,  which  was  called  folium,  the  leaf.  The  price 
in  Rome  is  stated  by  Pliny  (XII,  25)  to  have  been  5 denarii  per 
pound. 

In  modern  Kashmir  the  collection  of  costus  is  a State  monopoly, 
the  product  being  sent  to  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  for  shipment  to  China 
and  Red  Sea  ports.  In  China  it  is  used  in  perfumes  and  as  incense. 
In  Kashmir  it  is  used  by  shawl  merchants  to  protect  their  fabrics  from 
moths. 

The  word  costus  is  from  the  Sanscrit  kushtha , “standing  in  the 
earth. 

See  Watt,  op.  cit.,  980;  Lassen,  op.  cit.,  I,  287-8. 

39.  Lycium. — This  was  derived  from  varieties  of  the  barberry 
growing  in  the  Himalayas,  at  elevations  of  6,000  to  10,000  feet. 
Berberis  lycium,  also  B.  aristata,  B.  asiatica , B.  vulgaris , order  Ber- 
beridacea. 

From  the  roots  and  stems  a yellow  dye  was  prepared;  while 
from  the  stem,  fruit  and  root-bark  was  made  an  astringent  medicine, 
the  preparation  of  which  is  described  by  Pliny  (XXIV,  77).  “The 
branches  and  roots,  which  are  intensely  bitter,  are  pounded  and  then 
boiled  for  three  days  in  a copper  vessel;  the  woody  parts  then  re- 
moved, and  the  decoction  boiled  again  to  the  thickness  of  honey.  It 
is  mixed  with  various  bitter  extracts,  and  with  a murca  of  olive  oil, 
and  ox-gall.  The  froth  of  this  decoction  is  used  as  an  ingredient  in 
compositions  for  the  eyes,  and  the  other  part  as  a face  cosmetic,  and 
for  the  cure  of  corroding  sores,  fluxes,  and  suppurations,  for  diseases 
of  the  throat  and  gums,  for  coughs,  and  locally  for  dressing  open 
wounds.  ” Many  empty  lycium  pots  have  been  found  in  the  ruins  of 
Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  (See  also  Watt,  op.  cit . . 130.) 


170 


39.  Nard  (the  root,  from  the  lowlands,  as  distinguished  from 
spikenard,  the  leaf  or  flower,  from  the  mountains,  a totally  different 
species).  This  is  the  root  of  the  ginger-grass,  Cymbopogon  schoenan- 
thus,  order  Graminea , native  in  the  Western  Panjab,  India,  Beluchis- 
tan  and  Persia,  and  the  allied  species,  C.  jwarancusa , native  more  to 
the  east  and  south.  It  is  closely  allied  to  the  Ceylon  citronella,  C. 
nardus. 

From  the  root  of  this  grass  was  derived  an  oil  which  was  used  in 
Roman  commerce  medicinally  and  as  a perfume,  and  as  an  astringent 
in  ointments. 

This  is  no  doubt  the  nard  found  by  the  army  of  Alexander  on  its 
homeward  march,  in  the  country  of  the  Gedrosians,  of  which  Arrian 
says  ( Anabasis , VI,  22):  ''This  desert  produces  many  odoriferous 
roots  of  nard,  which  the  Phoenicians  gathered;  but  much  of  it  was 
trampled  down  by  the  army,  and  a sweet  perfume  was  diffused  far 
and  wide  over  the  land  by  the  trampling;  so  great  was  the  abundance 
of  it.” 

39.  Turquoise. — The  text  has  callean  stone,  which  seems  the 
same  as  Pliny’s  callaina  (XXXVII,  33),  a stone  that  came  from  "the 
countries  lying  back  of  India,”  or  more  definitely,  Khorassan.  His 
description  of  the  stone  itself  identifies  it  with  our  turquoise,  which 
occurs  abundantly  in  volcanic  rocks  intruding  into  sedimentary  rocks 
in  that  district.  The  finest  stones  came  from  the  mines  near  Maaden, 
about  48  miles  north  of  Nishapur  (the  Nisaea  of  Alexander,  36°  30’ 
N. , 58°  50'  E. ).  A natural  trade-route  from  this  locality  would  have 
been  down  the  Kabul  river,  thence  by  the  Indus  to  its  mouth,  where 
the  author  of  the  Periplus  found  the  stones  offered  for  sale. 

(See  also  Heyd,  Commerce  du  Levant  au  Moyen  Age , II,  653; 
Ritter,  Erdkunde,  325-330;  Yule’s  Marco  Polo,  Cordier’s  ed. , I,  92; 
Goodchild,  Precious  Stones,  284;  Tavernier,  Travels  in  India,  II,  xix: 
"Turquoise  is  only  found  in  Persia  ....  in  two  mines,  one  near 
Nishapur,  the  other  five  days’  journey  from  it;”  Lansdell,  Russian 
Central-Asia,  515.  ) 

39.  Lapis  lazuli. — The  word  in  the  text  is  sappheiros,  and  a 
natural  inclination  would  be  to  assume  this  to  be  the  same  as  our 
sapphire,  which  is  also  a product  of  India;  but  according  to  Pliny 
(XXXVII,  39)  the  stone  known  to  the  Romans  as  sapphire  was  an 
opaque  blue  stone  with  golden  spots,  which  came  from  Media,  that  is, 
in  a general  way,  from  the  country  we  call  Persia.  It  was  not  suited 
for  engraving  because  it  was  intersected  with  hard  crystalline  particles. 
This  can  be  nothing  but  our  lapis  lazuli,  which  has  been  in  demand 
from  a very  early  time  for  ornament  and  also  as  a pigment,  ultra- 


171 


marine,  which  was  so  extensively  used  by  the  Egyptians  in  their  public 
buildings.  Our  sapphire  seems  to  have  been  rather  a product  of 
southern  India  and  Ceylon,  and  would  hardly  have  been  exported 
from  the  Indus  valley. 

Dionysius  Periegetes  refers  to  the  “underlying  rocks  which  gave 
birth  to  the  beauteous  tablets  of  the  golden  hued  and  azure  sapphire 
stone  which  they  detach  from  the  parent  rock,  ” which  seems  to  indi- 
cate lapis  lazuli  rather  than  our  sapphire. 

Goodchild  ( Precious  Stones,  p.  240),  also  thinks  that  this  stone  was 
almost  certainly  the  sapphire  of  Theophrastus  and  other  ancient 
writers.  He  says,  “It  has  been  known  from  very  remote  times, 
being  much  used  by  the  Egyptians,  and  to  a lesser  extent  by  the 
Assyrians.  Epiphanius,  Bishop  of  Salamis,  says  the  Tables  of  the 
Law  given  to  Moses  were  inscribed  on  lapis  lazuli.  The  Romans 
used  it  to  some  extent  as  a material  for  engraving  on.’  ’ 

Lassen  is  of  the  same  opinion.  Beckmann  (Hist,  lnv.,  1,  467) 
writing  in  the  18th  century,  says  that  the  real  lapis  lazuli  came  from 
Bokhara,  particularly  at  Kalab  and  Badakshan;  that  it  was  sent  thence 
to  India,  and  from  India  to  Europe.  Some  came  also  through  Russia 
via  Orenburg,  but  less  than  formerly.  (The  first  route  corresponds 
with  the  Periplus.  ) “I  consider  it  as  the  sapphire  of  the  ancients” — - 
quoting  Pliny,  Isidori  Orig.  XVI,  9;  Theophrast.  de  Lapid. ; § 42; 
Dioscorides,  V,  157;  Dionys.,  Orb.  Desc.,\,  1105;  Epiphanius  afc 
xii  gemmis,  § 5;  Marbodeus  de  Lapidibus,  55. 

Tavernier,  ( Travels  in  India,  II,  xxv)  speaks  of  a “mountain 
beyond  Kashmir  producing  lapis,”  which  Ball  ( Economic  Geology  of 
India,  529)  locates  near  Firgamu  in  Badakshan,  36°  10'  N.,  71°  W. 
For  a.  fuller  description  see  Holdich,  Gates  of  India,  426,  507. 

Ultramarine  was  probably  not  the  ceeruleum  of  the  Romans,  which 
was  rather  copper  ochre.  Their  blue  glass  was  rather  cobalt. 

39.  Seric  skins.— Pliny  (XXXIV,  41)  says,  “of  all  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  iron,  the  palm  of  excellence  is  awarded  to  that  which 
is  made  by  the  Seres,  who  send  it  to  us  with  their  tissues  and  skins; 
next  to  which,  in  quality,  is  the  Parthian  iron.”  And  again 
(XXXVII,  77)  “the  most  valuable  products  furnished  by  the  cover- 
ings of  animals  are  the  skins  which  the  Seres  dye.” 

These  passages  are  sufficient  answer  to  those  who  have  doubted 
this  statement  in  the  Periplus.  (Vincent,  II,  390;  Muller  I,  288, 
opposed  to  whom  see  Fabricius,  p.  151.  ) There  is  no  more  reason  why 
furs  should  not  have  been  sent  overland  across  Asia  in  the  1st  century 
than  in  the  16th  to  the  19th,  when  the  trade  was  most  important.  Con- 
sider, for  instance,  the  difficulty  even  to-day,  in  getting  Russian  sables 


172 


to  market,  and  how  much  easier  to  get  the  various  wild  animal  skins 
from  Tibet  and  Turkestan  to  the  Indus  mouth! 

As  to  the  “most  excellent  iron  of  the  Seres”  mentioned  by  Pliny, 
it  is  open  to  question  whether  this  was  not  Indian  steel,  more  cor- 
rectly described  in  the  Periplus  as  coming  from  the  Gulf  of  Cambay 
to  the  Somali  coast— and  Egypt  It  was  produced  in  Haidarabad,  a 
short  distance  north  of  Golconda,  and  was  shipped  to  the  Panjab  and 
Persia  to  be  made  into  steel;  the  famous  Damascus  blades  of  the 
middle  ages  being  derived  mainly  from  this  source.  (Tavernier, 
Travels , Ball’s  ed.,  I,  157.)  See  also  under  § 6. 

39.  Cloth  . — It  is  uncertain  whether  this  should  be  connected 
with  the  following  item,  yarn,  both  being  silk,  or  whether  it  is  a 
separate  item.  If  the  latter,  as  seems  probable,  it  would  be  muslin, 
as  noted  under  §38 — the  sindon  of  the  Greeks,  long  a staple  product 
of  the  Panjab  and  Sind. 

39.  Silk  yarn.— According  to  the  Periplus,  the  Roman  traders 
found  silk  at  the  mouths  of  the  Indus  and  Ganges,  at  the  Gulf  of 
Cambay,  and  in  Travancore,  whither  it  had  been  brought  by  various 
routes  from  N.  W.  China. 

The  principal  highway  for  silk,  at  this  time  as  well  as  later,  was 
through  Turkestan  and  Parthia.  As  the  demand  in  Mediterranean 
countries  grew  more  insistent,  the  restrictions  of  the  Parthian  govern- 
ment became  more  severe,  and  quarrels  over  the  silk  trade  were  at 
the  root  of  more  than  one  war  between  Rome  and  Parthia,  or  later 
between  the  Byzantine  Empire  and  Sassanian  Persia.  This  effort  of 
Constantinople  to  reach  China  direct,  without  dependence  on  Meso- 
potamia, led  to  alliances  with  Abyssinia,  for  the  sea  trade,  and  with 
the  Turks,  for  a route  north  of  the  Caspian;  but  no  permanent  result 
was  reached  until  the  6th  century,  when  a couple  of  Christian  monks 
under  Justinian  succeeded  in  bringing  back  from  China  the  jealously- 
guarded  silk-worm’s  eggs,  from  which  the  silk  culture  was  introduced 
into  Greece,  and  imports  from  the  East  diminished. 

At  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  Rome  and  Parthia  being  at  war,  the 
sea-route  was  the  only  one  open  to  the  Roman  silk  traders. 

See  also  under  §§  49,  56  and  64. 

39.  IndigO,  a dye  produced  from  Indigofera  tinctoria,  Linn., 
order  Leguminosa;  and  allied  species,  of  which  about  25  exist  in  West- 
ern India  alone,  and  about  300  in  other  tropical  regions.  Concerning 
the  modern  production  see  Watt  {op.  cit.,  664).  It  was  valued  in 
Western  Asia,  Egypt,  and  the  Mediterranean  countries  as  a dye  and 
a medicine.  Pliny  says  (XXXV,  25-7)  : 


173 


“We  have  indicum,  a substance  imported  from  India,  with  the 
composition  of  which  I am  unacquainted.  When  broken  small  it  is 
of  a black  appearance,  but  when  diluted  it  exhibits  a wondrous  com- 
bination of  purple  and  deep  azure.  There  is  another  kind  of  it  which 
floats  in  the  caldrons  in  the  purple  dye-houses,  and  is  the  scum  of  the 
purple  dye.  ...  If  used  as  a medicine,  indicum  acts  as  a sedative 
for  ague  and  other  shivering  fits  and  desiccates  sores.” 

Marco  Polo  says  (III,  xxii)  “it  is  made  of  a certain  herb  which 
is  gathered,  and  (after  the  roots  have  been  removed)  is  put  into  great 
vessels  upon  which  they  pour  water  and  lave  it  until  the  whole  of 
the  plant  is  decomposed.  They  then  put  this  liquid  in  the  sun,  which 
is  tremendously  hot  there,  so  that  it  boils  and  coagulates,  and  becomes 
such  as  we  see  it.  They  then  divide  it  into  pieces  of  four  ounces 
each,  and  in  that  form  it  is  exported  to  our  ports.  ” 

40.  The  Gulf  of  Eirinon  is  the  strange  expanse  now  known 
as  the  Rinn  or  Rann  (Wilderness)  of  Cutch,  the  name  coming  from 
the  crescent-shaped  rocky  island  bordering  it  on  the  south.  It  is  a 
uniform  saline  plain  about  140  miles  long,  and  reaching  60  miles  from 
shore  to  shore;  and  in  the  dry  season  (of  the  N.  E.  monsoon)  it  is 
dry  and  firm,  10  to  20  inches  above  sea-level.  It  opens  seaward  by  a 
narrow  channel,  and  west  of  Cutch  the  northern  Rann  communi- 
cates through  a second  channel  with  the  Rann,  which  is  connected 
with  the  low-lying  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Cutch.  In  the  rainy  season 
(of  the  S.  W.  monsoon)  the  sea  is  driven  through  these  channels  by 
the  wind,  and  the  rain  descending  from  the  hills  also  flows  into  it, 
forming  a sheet  of  stagnant  water  about  3 feet  deep.  But  the  ground 
is  so  level  that  the  Rann  is  never  deep  enough  to  stop  the  camel  cara- 
vans, which  cross  it  at  all  seasons,  traveling  by  night,  to  avoid  the 
terrible  heat  and  refraction,  and  the  illusions  of  the  mirages  which 
constantly  hover  over  the  Rann.  The  guidance  of  stars  and  compass 
is  preferred. 

This  saline  plain  was  certainly  at  one  time  flooded  by  the  sea, 
as  shown  by  the  abundance  of  salt  and  by  the  remains  of  vessels  dug 
up  near  the  neighboring  villages.  Old  harbor  works  are  observed 
near  Nagar  Parkar,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Rann.  Within  his- 
torical times  it  was  probably  the  scene  of  an  active  sea-trade;  even  in 
modern  times  the  port  of  Mandavi,  on  the  southern  coast  of  Cutch, 
carries  on  a direct  trade  with  Zanzibar,  in  small  vessels  averaging  50 
tons,  of  less  than  10  feet  draught. 

We  are  here  again  reminded  of  the  ancient  Turanian  (Accadian- 
Dravidian)  sea  trade,  which  must  have  centered  in  these  bays. 

The  whole  area  was  probably  raised  by  some  great  earthquake. 


174 


The  upheaval  is  too  regular  to  have  occurred  by  ordinary  causes.  At 
the  time  of  the  Periplus  it  seems  to  have  been  open  water,  although 
shoal,  with  a clear  opening  into  the  ocean  below  the  Indus  delta,  and 
with  a branch  of  the  Indus  running  into  it.  Now  the  Indus  delta  is 
pushed  very  much  farther  south,  and  the  scour  of  the  tides  has  carried 
its  alluvium  along  the  coast,  almost  blocking  up  the  Rann;  while  the 
branch  that  watered  it  no  longer  flows  in  that  direction. 

One  is  led  to  surmise  that  the  great  migration  from  Cutch  and 
Gujarat  to  Java,  which  occurred  in  the  6th  and  7th  centuries,  and 
which  led  to  the  establishment  of  Buddhist  kingdoms  there  (surviving 
in  the  tremendous  temples  of  Boroboedor  and  Brambanan)  may  have 
been  due  even  more  to  this  cause  than  to  the  invasion  of  hostile  Aryan 
tribes  from  the  upper  Indus.  The  conversion  of  a navigable  bay  into 
a salt  desert,  and  the  diversion  of  the  rivers  that  watered  it,  must  have 
spelled  ruin  and  starvation  to  multitudes  of  its  agricultural  and  seafar- 
ing inhabitants,  who  would  have  been  forced  to  migrate  on  a scale 
unusual  in  history. 

Geological  considerations  tend  to  confirm  the  tradition,  other- 
wise unsupported  by  historic  evidence,  that  the  Indus  was  formerly 
deflected  by  the  Rohri  Hills  directly  into  the  Rann  of  Cutch,  where 
it  was  joined  by  the  river  which  was  supposed  to  have  formed  a con- 
tinuation of  the  Sutlej  and  Sarasvati  through  the  now  dried-up  Hakra 
(Wahind)  canal.  During  exceptional  floods  the  waters  of  the  Indus 
still  overflow  into  the  eastern  desert  and  even  into  the  Rann.  Other 
channels  traversing  the  desert  farther  south  still  attest  the  incessant  shift- 
ing of  the  main  stream  in  its  search  for  the  most  favorable  seaward  out- 
let. According  to  Burns,  a branch  of  the  Indus  known  as  the  Purana,  or 
“Ancient,”  still  flowed  in  1672  about  120  miles  east  of  the  present 
mouth. 

The  constant  shiftings  of  the  river-bed  toward  the  west  have 
rendered  the  eastern  regions  continually  more  arid,  and  have  changed 
many  river-channels  into  salt-pits.  In  the  year  1909  a city  of  25,000 
inhabitants,  Dera  Ghazi  Khan,  was  almost  annihilated  by  the  Indus. 

The  name  Eirinon,  Rinn  or  Rann  is  from  the  Sanscrit  aranya  or 
irina,  a waste  or  swamp. 

40.  The  Gulf  of  Baraca  is  the  modern  Gulf  of  Cutch. 
Whether  the  name  survives  in  the  modern  Dwarka  (22°  22'  N., 
69°  5'  E. ),  is  uncertain.  It  seems  to  be  the  same  as  Bahlika,  which 
is  associated  with  Surashtra  in  the  Mahabharata , the  Ramayana  and 
the  Vishnu  Purana. 

41.  Ariaca. — This  word  in  the  text  is  very  uncertain.  Lassen 
thinks  that  the  name  is  properly  the  Sanscrit  Latica  (pronounced  Larica ) 


175 


and  included  the  land  on  both  sides  of  the  Gulf  of  Cambay.  Ptolemy 
also  gives  the  name  Larica.  An  inscription  of  Asoka  mentions  Latica. 
The  earliest  form  seems  to  have  been  Rastika  or  Rashtrika,  ‘ ‘belong- 
ing to  the  kingdom.  ” This  word  appears  also  in  Syrastrene.  The 
Prakrit  form  of  this  word  Rashtra  survives  also  in  the  modern  Maratha 
(. Maharashtra ).  (Lassen,  I,  108.)  Another  explanation  derives 
Ariaca  from  Aparantika,  an  old  name  for  the  western  seaboard. 

( Pandit  Bhagvanlal  Indraji,  in  Indian  Antiquary , VII,  259-263.  ) 

According  to  Reclus  (Asia,  III,  165)  both  Cutch  and  Kathiawar 
(Baraca  and  Syrastrene)  were  originally  islands.  This  whole  area 
has  been  raised  in  historical  times.  The  land  connecting  Kathiawar 
with  the  mainland  is  not  over  50  feet  above  sea-level  and  is  full  of 
marine  remains. 

Its  position  seaward  made  it  early  a centre  of  trade,  and  a great 
mixture  of  races — also  an  asylum  for  refugees,  political  and  religious. 

41.  NambanilS. — The  text  is  Mambarus.  This  is  probably 
the  same  as  the  Saka  ruler  Nahapana.  See  under  § 52. 

41.  Abiria.  Phis  is  the  native  Abhira,  which  Lassen  (I, 
538-9),  argues  must  have  been  the  Biblical  Ophir.  In  the  account 
of  the  Ophir  trade  given  in  I Kings,  IX,  26-28;  I Kings,  X,  11; 
II  Chronicles  VIII,  17,  and  IX,  10,  the  products  mentioned  are 
gold,  sandalwood ( ?),  precious  stones,  ivory,  silver,  apes  and  pea- 
cocks. The  word  translated  ape,  Lassen  remarks,  is  kophi,  not  a 
Hebrew  word,  but  derived  from  the  Sanscrit  word  kapi.  The  word 
for  ivory  is  noted  under  § 49.  The  word  for  peacock,  tukhi-im,  is 
the  Sanscrit  sikhi,  called  in  Malabar,  togei. 

Sandalwood,  Lassen  thinks,  was  the  almug  or  algum , which  he 
derives  from  the  Sanscrit  valgu,  Malabar  valgum.  Lassen  also  refers 
to  the  Indian  city  Sophir  (the  Suppara  of  § 52). 

But  the  location  of  Ophir  in  India  is  impossible.  The  land  of 
Abhira,  the  modern  Gujarat,  is  and  was  purely  an  agricultural  country, 
dealing  in  none  of  the  products  mentioned,  and  is  at  the  northern  end 
of  India’s  west  coast,  not  the  southern,  from  which  these  products 
came.  Later  scholarship  is  sufficiently  sure  in  locating  Ophir  on  the 
Arabian  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf, but  the  Indian  names  for  the  prod- 
ucts mentioned  proved  clearly  enough  that  it  was  a trading  center 
dealing  with  India,  even  if  the  land  itself  was  not  Indian. 

The  name,  too,  has  a suggestive  similarity.  Just  as  we  have 
Cutch,  Kachh,  Khuzistan=Kassites,  and  “wretched  Cush,”  so  Ab- 
hira, Apir,  Ophir  suggest  the  same  Dravidian-Accadian  activity  be 
tween  India,  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  Africa,  which  later  gave  way 


176 


to  a Semitic,  native  Arabian  activity.  This  would  have  been  a couple 
of  thousand  years  before  Solomon’s  day. 

41.  Syrastrene. — Sanscrit,  Surdshtra;  the  modern  Kathiawar. 
The  name  survives  in  the  modern  Surat,  which  owes  its  name  to 
Arabic  domination.  At  the  time  of  the  Periplus  this  peninsula,  to- 
gether with  the  opposite  coast  of  Cutch  and  Cambay,  was  subject  to 
the  Saka  or  Indo-Parthian  dynasties. 

41.  A fertile  country. — Gujarat  is  still  one  of  the  richest 
regions  in  India,  its  prosperity  being  largely  due  to  the  60  seaports 
fringing  its  coast-lines  and  to  the  fertility  of  its  deep  black  soil,  which 
is  particularly  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton.  Horses,  cattle, 
sheep  and  grain  are  exported  in  large  numbers  to  Bombay  and  other 
parts  of  India. 

41.  Rice. — Oryza,  Linn.,  order  Graminea.  The  species  now 
most  generally  cultivated  is  Oryza  sativa.  There  are  various  wild 
varieties,  one  of  importance  being  Oryza  coarctata  (Roxb. ) or  O.  triti- 
coides,  which  was  native  in  the  Indus  and  Ganges  valleys,  and  also 
apparently  in  Mesopotamia  (see  Watt,  op.  cit.,  823-5).  This  wild 
variety  resembles  wheat  and  seems  to  have  been  mistaken  for  it  by 
Strabo  and  some  of  the  Greek  writers  on  India. 

Oryza  sativa , the  cultivated  form,  is  native  in  India,  Burma, 
and  Southern  China.  It  is  the  principal  food  of  Asia,  and  doubtless 
was  so  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  when  it  was  exported  to  Arabia 
and  East  Africa.  It  was  cultivated  in  China,  according  to  Stanislas 
Julien,  as  early  as  2800  B.  C.,  and  probably  somewhat  later  in  India. 
Watt  thinks  the  cultivation  began  rather  in  Turkestan,  whence  it 
spread  to  China,  India  and  Persia  in  the  order  named,  the  changing 
climate  also  forcing  its  wild  habitat  southwards.  He  thinks  that  coin- 
cides with  the  region  through  which  the  Dravidian  invaders  passed 
until  they  culminated  in  the  Tamil  civilization.  He  also  cautions 
against  the  tempting  derivation  of  the  Greek  word  oryza  and  the  Arabic 
al-ruzz  (from  which  the  modern  rice,  riso,  riz , arroz,  etc. ),  from  the 
Tamil  arisi,  thinking  that  they  are  rather  from  the  old  Persian  virinzi 
(Sanscrit  vrihP),  indicating  an  early  connection  before  migrations  had 
radiated  from  Central  Asia. 

41.  Sesame  oil,  expressed  from  the  seeds  of  Sesamum  Indicum, 
D.  C.,  order  Pedalinea-,  an  annual  plant  cultivated  throughout  the 
tropical  and  subtropical  regions  of  the  globe  for  the  oil  obtained  from 
the  seed.  Originally,  perhaps,  it  was  a native  of  Africa,  but  was 
regularly  cultivated  in  India  long  before  it  reached  the  Mediterranean 
countries.  At  the  time  of  the  Periplus  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  sesame 


177 


was  an  important  crop  throughout  India  and  the  warmer  parts  of  Cen- 
tral Asia.  Our  author  shows  us  that  the  oil  was  exported  from  the 
Gulf  of  Cambay  to  both  Arabia  and  Africa,  whence  doubtless  it  was 
reshipped  to  the  Roman  world. 

According  to  the  statistics  given  by  Watt  (op.  cit.,  982)  the  area 
under  cultivation  in  India  in  1904-5  was  over  4,000,000  acres,  of 
which  about  700,000  was  in  the  Cambay  states. 

In  modern  India  the  oil  is  largely  used  for  culinary  purposes,  in 
anointing  the  body,  in  soap  manufacture,  and  as  a lamp-oil.  It  is 
also  used  as  an  adulterant  of  ghi  or  clarified  butter. 

It  is  a yellow  oil,  without  smell,  and  not  liable  to  become  rancid. 
In  many  properties  it  closely  resembles  olive  oil,  and  is  similarly  used 
where  the  olive  oil  is  not  cultivated.  It  is  extracted  by  simple  ex- 
pression in  mills.  Strabo  (XVI,  i,  20)  refers  to  the  ancient  custom 
in  Mesopotamia  of  anointing  the  body  with  sesame  oil. 

41.  Clarified  Butter, — The  text  is  boutyron  (see  also  under 
§ 14).  This  is  not  fresh  butter  made  from  cream,  but  rather  the 
Indian  ghi , an  oil  reduced  from  butter.  Fabricius  says  that  it  could 
not  have  been  transported  from  India  to  Africa  under  the  tropical 
sun,  and  would  read  bosmoros , an  Indian  grain;  but  ghi  stands  long 
journeys  to-day  and  might  very  likely  have  been  in  demand  in  the  1st 
century  on  the  African  coast,  which  produced  no  oil  except  from  the 
cocoanut  palm.  According  to  Watt  (op.  cit.,  478)  ghi  is  an  oil  de- 
canted after  heating  the  butter  about  twelve  hours,  during  which  the 
moisture  is  driven  off  and  the  residue  (casein,  etc.)  is  deposited  as  a 
sediment.  The  butter  thus  loses  about  25  per  cent  of  its  bulk.  It  is 
made  from  buffalo’s  milk  rather  than  cow’s. 

Ghi  is  mentioned  in  some  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  Hindu 
classics. 

If  carefully  enclosed  in  leather  skins  or  earthen  pots,  while  still 
hot,  it  may  be  preserved  for  many  years  without  requiring  the  aid  of 
salt  or  other  preservatives.  Fryer,  in  1672-81,  speaks  of  tanks  of  ghi 
in  the  Deccan,  400  years  old,  of  great  value  medicinally,  and  high 
price. 

This  word  boutyron  has  been  variously  emended  by  the  commen- 
tators, all  of  whom  had  fresh  butter  in  mind,  although  Lassen  should 
have  been  familiar  with  the  durability  of  clarified  butter,  and  with  the 
probability  of  its  export  from  the  rich  agricultural  region  of  Gujarat. 

Lassen,  Oppert  and  others,  following  a mention  of  boutyros  by 
Theophrastus,  identify  it  with  asafoetida,  by  way  of  the  Sanscrit  bhutari 
( the  enemy  of  evil  spirits”).  But  asafoetida  was  a product  of  Af- 
ghanistan and  would  have  been  brought  to  the  Indus  mouth  rather  than 


178 


to  Barygaza.  While  Theophrastus  may  have  referred  to  it  as  boutyros, 
the  Romans  knew  it  more  intimately  as  laser , which  is  the  word  that 
the  author  of  the  Periplus  would  probably  have  used.  It  entered  into 
Roman  medicine  as  a remedy  for  fevers  and  tropical  digestive  disor- 
ders. (Pliny,  XIX,  15). 

Fabricius  needlessly  alters  the  text  to  read  bosmoros,  a grain, 
which  he  does  not  identify.  McCrindle  suggests  wild  barley  or  millet. 
The  following  passages  from  Strabo  throw  some  light  on  that  question: 

He  says  (XV,  ii,  13)  “By  the  vapors  which  ascend  from  so 
many  rivers,  and  by  the  Etesian  winds,  India,  as  Eratosthenes  states, 
is  watered  by  the  summer  rains,  and  the  level  country  is  inundated. 
During  the  rainy  season,  flax  and  millet,  as  well  as  sesamum,  rice  and 
bosmoros  are  sown;  and  in  the  winter  season,  wheat,  barley,  pulse, 
and  other  esculents  with  which  we  are  unacquainted.”  And  again: 

(XV,  ii,  18)  “Onesicritus  says  of  bosmoros  that  it  is  a smaller 
gra;n  than  wheat,  and  is  grown  in  countries  between  rivers.  It  is 
roasted  after  being  threshed  out,  and  the  men  are  bound  by  oath  not  to 
take  it  away  before  it  has  been  roasted,  to  prevent  the  seed  from  being 
exported. 

The  treasuring  of  this  bosmoros  and  the  prejudice  against  its  ex- 
portation indicate  the  native  millet,  which  was  regarded  as  particularly 
pure,  and  was  the  grain  most  used  for  temple-offerings. 

Other  grains  which  might  suggest  themselves,  are  the  African 
millets,  Holcus  sorghum  (Hindu  juar)  or  Kaffir  corn  (see  Pliny,  XVIII, 
10,  for  description  of  its  remarkable  size  and  prolific  increase)  and 
Pennisetum  typhoideum  (Hindu,  bajra ) or  spiked  millet.  Both  are  im- 
portant crops  in  modern  India,  but  were  probably  brought  from  Africa 
more  recently  than  the  date  of  the  Periplus,  and  being  native  in  So- 
maliland, would  not  be  probable  articles  of  import  there. 

Wild  barley,  suggested  by  McCrindle,  was  also  native  in  Egypt 
and  Somaliland,  and  therefore  not  likely  to  have  been  imported. 

Another  possible  grain  is  the  Indus  valley  wild  rice,  Oryza  coarc- 
tata  (Hindu,  barirdhan),  which  has  been  confused  with  wheat.  See 
Watt,  p.  823. 

The  common  millet,  Panicum  miliaceum , while  grown  in  India, 
was  native  in  Egypt  and  the  Mediterranean  countries. 

Altogether  the  bosmoros  of  Strabo  was  most  probably  “Poor  man’s 
millet,”  Panicum  Crus-galli;  which  is  extensively  cultivated  to-day  in 
China  and  Japan  as  well  as  India.  The  native  name  given  it  in  Ben- 
gal, bura  shama,  might  readily  be  Hellenized  into  bosmoros. 

According  to  Watt  ( op . cit.,  843)  Panicum  Crus-galli,  order 
Graminece,  is  a large,  coarse  plant,  preferring  wet  ground,  such  as 


179 


borders  of  ponds  and  banks  of  streams.  It  is  extensively  cultivated 
as  a rainy-season  crop  over  most  of  India — on  the  Himalayas  to  6500 
feet.  It  thrives  on  light  sandy  soils  and  is  often  cultivated  when  the 
rains  are  over,  on  the  banks  of  rich  silt  deposited  by  rivers.  The 
yield  is  fifty  fold  in  good  soil.  It  is  the  quickest-growing  millet, 
harvested  sometimes  in  six  weeks,  and  is  consumed  chiefly  by  the 
poorer  classes,  for  whom  it  is  useful  because  it  ripens  early  and  affords 
a cheap  article  of  food  before  bajra  and  the  other  millets. 

41.  Cotton  and  the  Indian  cloths. — These  were  the 
monache,  molochine , and  sagmatogene  of  6 and  14.  The  account 
given  by  Tavernier  throws  some  light  on  the  earlier  production.  He 
says  {.op.  cit.,  II,  xii)  “White  cotton  cloths  come  to  Renonsari  (near 
Surat)  and  Broach,  where  they  have  the  means  of  bleaching  them  in 
large  fields,  on  account  of  the  quantity  of  lemons  growing  in  the 
neighborhood.  . . . The  cloths  are  21  cubits  long  when  crude,  but 
only  20  cubits  when  bleached.  There  are  both  broad  and  narrow 
kinds.  T he  broad  are  1}6  cubit  wide,  and  the  piece  is  20  cubits 
long.”  And  again:  “The  cotton  cloths  to  be  dyed  red,  blue,  or 
black,  are  taken  uncolored  to  Agra  and  Ahmadabad,  because  these 
two  towns  are  near  the  place  where  the  indigo  is  made,  which  is  used 
in  dyeing.  The  cheaper  kinds  are  exported  to  the  coast  of  Melinde 
(the  Azania  of  the  Periplus),  and  they  constitute  the  principal  trade 
done  by  the  Governor  of  Mozambique,  who  sells  them  to  the  Kaffirs 
to  carry  into  the  country  of  the  Abyssins  and  the  kingdom  of  Saha, 
because  these  people,  not  using  soap,  need  only  rinse  out  these 
cloths.” 

Vincent’s  translation  of  sagmatogene  by  “stuffing,”  that  is,  un- 
spun cotton,  is  supported  by  Tavernier,  who  says  “the  unspun  cottons 
from  Gujarat  do  not  go  to  Europe,  being  too  bulky  and  of  too  small 
value,  and  they  are  only  exported  to  the  Red  Sea,  Hormus,  and 
Bassora.  ’ ’ 

Marco  Polo  (III,  26)  says  of  this  locality:  “They  have  also  a 
great  deal  of  cotton.  Their  cotton  trees  are  of  very  great  size,  grow- 
ing six  paces  high,  and  attaining  to  an  age  of  20  years.  ( Gossypium 
arboreum. ) It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that,  when  the  trees  are 
so  old  as  that,  the  cotton  is  not  good  to  spin,  but  only  to  quilt  or  stuff 
beds  withal.  Up  to  the  age  of  12  years,  indeed,  the  trees  give  good 
spinning  cotton,  but  from  that  age  to  20  years  the  produce  is  inferior.  ’ ’ 

Pliny  also  (XII,  21)  quotes  from  Theophrastus  a description  of 
the  tree  cotton,  contrasting  it  with  silk:  “trees  that  bear  wool,  but 
of  a different  nature  from  those  of  the  Seres;  as  in  these  trees  the 
leaves  produce  nothing  at  all,  and  indeed  might  very  readily  be  taken 


180 


for  those  of  the  vine,  were  it  not  that  they  are  of  smaller  size.  They 
hear  a kind  of  gourd,  about  the  size  of  a quince,  which  when  ripe 
hursts  asunder  and  discloses  a ball  of  down,  from  which  a costly  kind 
of  linen  cloth  is  made.” 

41.  Minnagara. — This  capital  was  identified  by  Muller  with 
the  modern  Indore,  but  according  to  Vincent  Smith  {op.  cit.,  192-3) 
may  be  the  ancient  town  of  Madhyamika  or  Nagari,  one  of  the  oldest 
sites  in  India,  of  which  the  ruins  still  exist,  about  eleven  miles  north 
cf  Chitor  (24°  53'  N.,  74°  39'  E.). 

McCrindle  and  Fabricius  prefer,  but  quite  conjecturally,  to  place 
it  in  Kathiawar;  but  the  text  indicates  the  mainland  in  observing  that 
from  Minnagara  cotton  cloth  was  “brought  down,”  by  river  pre- 
sumably, to  Barygaza. 

The  name  Minnagara  means  “City  of  the  Min,”  which  was 
the  Hindu  name  for  the  Saka  invaders. 

41.  Barygaza. — This  is  the  modern  Broach  (21°  42'  N. , 72° 
59'E. ).  The  Greek  name  is  from  the  Prakrit  Bharukacha,  supposed 
to  be  a corruption  of  Bhrigukachha , 4 4 the  plain  of  Bhrigu,  ” who  was 
a local  hero.  Here  is  at  least  a suggestion  of  Dravidian  connection 
with  the  Brahui  of  Gedrosia,  their  hero  Braho  and  their  Kach  place- 
names. 

I he  district  of  Barygaza  was  an  important  part  of  the  empire  of 
Chandragupta  Maurya,  who  is  said  to  have  resided  at  Suklatirtha. 
After  the  collapse  of  his  dynasty  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Saka 
princes,  who  were  in  power  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus. 

41.  Signs  of  the  Expedition  of  Alexander. — The  Greek 
army  reached  Jhelum  (32°  56'  N. , 73°  47'  E. ) on  the  river  of  the 
same  name.  Somewhat  above  that  place,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  Vincent  Smith  locates  the  field  of  his  battle  with  Porus.  ( Early 
History  of  India,  71-8.)  Alexander  then  penetrated  to  Gurdaspur,  on 
the  Sutlej  river,  about  50  miles  N.  E.  from  Amritsar.  Here  he  began 
his  retreat.  The  author  of  the  Periplus  is  mistaken  in  supposing  that 
the  Macedonians  got  beyond  the  Indus  region,  and  is  probably  quot- 
ing what  was  told  him  by  some  trader  at  Barygaza,  who  would  hardly 
have  distinguished  Alexander  from  Asoka.  Under  the  caste  system 
the  traders  were  not  concerned  with  the  religious  or  political  activities 
of  the  country,  and  those  concerned  with  foreign  trade  were  often,  as 
now,  mere  outcasts;  while  even  had  they  been  informed,  they  would 
have  been  quite  equal  to  attributing  anything,  for  the  moment,  to 
Alexander,  out  of  deference  to  their  Greek  customers,  who. were  far 
more  interested  in  his  exploits  than  any  Hindu  could  be. 


181 


41.  The  promontory  of  Papica  is  Goaphat,  or  Gopinath 
Point. 

42.  Another  gulf. — This  is  the  Gulf  of  Cambay. 

42.  Baeones  is  Piram  Island  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Narbada 
(21°  36'  N. , 72°  21'  E.),  as  shown  on  the  following  map.  Diu 
Island,  the  modern  Portuguese  possession,  preferred  by  Vincent, 
does  not  conform  to  the  sailing-course  of  the  Periplus,  as  shown 
by  Muller  (I,  290.) 


0 to  30  Feet.  30  to  75  Feet.  75  Feet  and  upwards. 


30  Miles. 


According  to  the  Imperial  Gazetteer,  XX,  149-150,  it  is  a reef  of 
rock  partly  covered  by  brown  sand,  and  is  surrounded  by  rocky  reefs 
rising  to  the  surface  from  a depth  of  60  to  70  feet.  To  avoid  the 
tide-currents,  chopping  sea  and  sunken  reefs,  boats  have  still  to  follow 
the  course  toward  the  Narbada,  as  described  in  the  Periplus. 


182 


42.  The  great  river  Mais  is  the  modern  Mahi,  emptying 
into  the  head  of  the  gulf,  at  the  city  of  Cambay.  (22°  18'  N.,  72° 
40'  E.) 

42.  The  river  Nammadus — Hindu,  Narmada — is  the  mod- 
ern Narbada  or  Nerbudda. 

44.  Hard  to  navigate. — 1 he  sketch-map  on  the  preceding 
page,  from  Reclus,  Asia , Vol.  Ill,  illustrates  the  difficulties. 

Herone  shoal  is  no  doubt  the  long  bar  at  the  eastern  side  of  the 
gulf,  and  Cammoni  would  be  at  the  end  of  the  promontory  that  lies 
to  the  N.  W.  of  the  mouth  of  the  Tapti  River,  the  entrance  to  the 
prosperous  mediaeval  port  of  Surat.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  same  as 
the  Camanes  of  Ptolemy. 

44.  Trappaga  and  Cotymba. — The  first  word  Lassen  de- 
rives (II,  539)  from  trapaka,  a type  of  fishing  boat  mentioned  by  other 
travellers  to  this  region.  The  second  suggests  the  modern  kotia,  a 
craft  from  these  waters  found  by  Burton  in  the  Somaliland  ports  (First 
Footsteps,  408). 


Fishing-boats  entering  Bombay  Harbor 


44.  Anchorages  and  basins. — The  maintenance  of  this 
regular  service  of  pilotage,  under  which  incoming  vessels  were  met 
at  least  100  miles  from  Barygaza,  indicates  an  active  and  regular  com- 
merce, such  as  our  author  describes.  The  use  of  “stations”  in  the 
river  is  still  necessary  here,  and  in  other  rivers  such  as  those  of  Burma, 
where  modern  sailing  traffic  is  more  active. 


183 


45.  Very  great  tides. — The  vivid  description  of  the  tidal 
bore,  in  this  and  the  following  paragraph,  is  certainly  the  result  of 
personal  experience.  To  a merchant  familiar  with  the  all  but  tideless 
waters  of  the  Red  Sea,  it  must  indeed  have  been  a wonder  of  nature. 
The  same  thing  occurs  in  many  places  where  a strong  tide  is  forced 
into  a narrow,  shallow  and  curving  estuary,  as  in  Burma,  the  Bay 
of  Fundy,  the  Bay  of  Panama,  and  elsewhere.  According  to  the 
Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India , IX,  297,  high  spring  tides  in  the  Gulf  of 
Cambay  rise  and  fall  as  much  as  33  feet,  and  run  at  a velocity  of 
6 to  7 knots  an  hour.  Ordinary  tides  reach  25  feet,  at  4/4  to  6 
knots.  The  inevitable  damage  to  shipping,  under  such  difficulties, 
was  the  cause  of  the  desertion  of  the  Cambay  ports  for  Surat  and, 
more  recently,  Bombay. 

46.  The  sea  rushing  in  with  a hoarse  roar. 

“Through  hoarse  roar  never  remitting, 

Along  the  midnight  edge  by  those  milk-white  combs  careering.” 

Walt  Whitman:  Patrolling  Barnegat. 

47.  Arattii. — This  is  a Prakrit  form  of  the  Sanscrit  Arashtra, 
who  were  a people  of  the  Panjab;  in  fact  the  name  Ardtta  is  often 
synonymous  with  the  Panjab  in  Hindu  literature. 

47.  Arachosii. — This  people  occupied  the  country  around  the 
modern  Kandahar  (31°  2.1'  N.,  65°  43;  E.).  McCrindle  ( Ancient 
India , 88)  says  “Arachosia  extended  westward  beyond  the  meridian 
of  Kandahar,  and  was  skirted  on  the  east  by  the  river  Indus.  On  the 
north  it  stretched  to  the  western  section  of  the  Hindu  Kush  and  on 
the  south  to  Gedrosia.  The  province  was  rich  and  populous,  and 
the  fact  that  it  was  traversed  by  one  of  the  main  routes  by  which 
Persia  communicated  with  India  added  greatly  to  its  importance.” 

47.  GandaraBi. — (Sanscrit,  Gandhara f This  people  dwelt  on 
both  sides  of  the  Cabul  River,  above  its  junction  with  the  Indus;  the 
modern  Peshawar  district.  In  earlier  times  they  extended  east  of  the 
Indus,  where  their  eastern  capital  was  located — Takshasi/a,  a large 
and  prosperous  city,  called  by  the  Greeks  Taxila. 

(See  also  Holdich,  Gates  of  India , 99,  114,  179,  185;  Vincent 
Smith,  Early  History,  32,  43,  50,  52,  54;  Foucher,  Notes  sur  la  geo- 
graphic ancienne  du  Gandhara. ) 

The  trade-route  briefly  referred  to  in  the  mention  of  Gandhara 
and  Pushkalavatl  was  that  leading  to  Bactria,  whence  it  branched  west- 
ward to  the  Caspian  and  the  Euphrates,  and  eastward  through  Turke- 
stan to  China,  the  “Land  of  This”  of  § 64. 

47.  Poclais. — (Sanscrit,  Pushkaravati,  or  Pushkalavatl,  “abound- 


184 


ing  in  lotuses.”  Prakrit,  Pukkalaoti , whence  the  Peucelaotis  of  Arrian.  ) 
This  was  the  western  capital  of  Gandhara  (cf.  Strabo,  XV,  26-8; 
Arrian,  Anabasis,  IV,  xxii ; lndica,  IV;  Lassen,  II,  858  j,  the  modern 
Charsadda,  17  miles  N.  E.  of  Peshawar,  on  the  Suwat  River. 

47.  Bucephalus  Alexandria. — This  is  identified  by  Vincent 
Smith  (op.  at.,  62)  with  the  modern  town  of  Jhelum.  (See  under 
§ 41. ) Its  position  is  marked  by  an  extensive  mound  west  of  the 
present  settlement.  The  mound  is  known  as  Pindi , “the  town,  ” and 
yields  large  ancient  bricks  and  numerous  Graeco-Bactrian  coins-  Its 
position  at  a ferry  on  the  high-road  from  the  west  to  the  Indian  inte- 
rior gave  it  great  commercial  importance. 

47.  Warlike  nation  of  the  Bactrians. — This  passage,  with 
its  reference  to  Graeco-Bactrian  coins  current  in  Barygaza,  presents  a 
view  of  Indian  history  which  does  not  appear  in  any  other  contempo- 
rary work.  The  sequence  of  events  in  Bactria  during  the  four  cen- 
turies between  Alexander  and  the  Periplus,  which  is  fully  set  forth  by 
Vincent  Smith  (op.  cit.,  IX,  X)  is  summarized  as  follows: 

The  Empire  of  Alexander  was  broken  up  at  his  death  and  the 
whole  Eastern  section  from  Syria  to  India  fell  to  Seleucus,  one  of  his 
generals.  The  Indian  conquests  were  lost  immediately,  but  the  inter- 
vening country  remained  under  Greek  control  for  nearly  100  years 
under  Antiochus  Theos.  The  two  northeastern  provinces  of  Parthia 
and  Bactria  revolted.  The  Parthians,  an  Asiatic  race  akin  to  the 
Turks,  setup  for  themselves,  and  built  up  a military  power  which  later 
absorbed  the  country  beyond  the  Euphrates.  The  Bactrian  country, 
which  was  then  populous  and  productive,  remained  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Greek  princes,  and  its  independence  was  finally  recognized  in 
208  B.  C.  The  Greek  monarchs  in  Bactria  immediately  set  about 
enlarging  their  domains  by  striving  to  gain  an  outlet  to  the  sea  through 
the  Indus  Valley.  In  190  B.  C.  Demetrius  conquered  the  whole 
Indus  Valley  and  that  part  of  Afghanistan  lying  around  the  modern 
Cabul. 

During  his  absence  in  India  a relative,  Eucratides,  revolted  and 
Demetrius  returned  hbme  but  his  name  does  not  reappear.  From 
160  to  156  there  seems  to  have  been  anarchy  in  Bactria  which  ended 
in  the  assassination  of  Eucratides  by  his  son  Apollodotus,  whose  reign 
seems  to  have  been  very  short. 

In  the  years  155-153  a Greek  King  Menandei,  apparently  a 
brother  of  Apollodotus,  whose  capital  was  Cabul,  annexed  the  entire 
Indus  Valley,  the  peninsula  of  Suras'ntra  (Syrastrene)  and  other  terri- 
tories on  the  western  coast;  occupied  Mathura;  besieged  Madhya- 
mika  (now  Nagari  near  Chitor),  and  threatened  the  capital,  Patali- 


185 


putra,  which  is  the  modern  Patna.  Menander  had  to  retire,  however, 
to  Bactria.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  a convert  to  Buddhism,  and 
has  been  immortalized  under  the  name  of  Milinda  in  a celebrated  dia- 
logue entitled  The  Questions  of  Milinda , which  is  one  of  the  most  noted 
books  in  Buddhist  literature. 

Heliocles,  son  of  Eucratides,  seems  to  have  been  the  last  Greek 
king  to  rule  north  of  the  Hindu  Kush  Mountains. 

This  phase  of  Asiatic  history  is  reflected  by  the  mention  of  the 
Greek  coinage  of  Apollodotus  and  Menander,  current  in  Barygaza  at 
the  time  of  the  Periplus.  The  coins  must  have  been  over  200  years 
old,  and  the  preservation  of  small  silver  coins  in  commercial  use  for 
that  length  of  time  is  remarkable. 

To  understand  the  ‘very  warlike  nation  of  the  Bactrians’  which 
our  author  mentions  as  ‘living  in  the  interior  under  their  own  king,' 
one  must  go  to  the  history  of  central  Asia.  Chinese  annals  mention 
that  in  the  year  165  B.  C.,  a nomadic  Turki  tribe  in  northwestern 
China  and  owing  allegiance  to  the  Chinese  emperors,  known  as  the 
Yueh-chi,  were  driven  out  of  their  territory  by  the  Hiongnu  or  Tar- 
tars, and  migrated  westward.  This  displaced  numerous  savage  tribes 
in  central  Asia,  who  in  turn  moved  westward;  and  thus  the  great 
waves  of  migration  were  begun  which  inundated  Europe  for  centuries, 
overwhelmed  the  Roman  Empire,  and  long  threatened  to  extinguish 
white  civilization. 

The  Yueh-chi  in  their  westward  movement  drove  out  a tribe 
known  as  the  Saka,  who  had  lived  between  the  Chu  and  Jaxartes 
rivers.  T hese  tribes  in  the  years  140-130  poured  into  Bactria,  over- 
whelmed the  Greek  Kingdom  there  and  continued  into  the  country 
known  as  Seistan,  then  called,  from  its  conquerors,  Sakastene.  Another 
branch  of  the  Saka  horde  settled  in  Taxila  in  the  Panjab  and  Mathura 
on  the  Jumna,  where  Saka  princes  ruled  for  more  than  a century 
under  the  Parthian  power.  These  Saka  tribes  seem  to  have  been 
originally  connected  with  the  Parthians.  Another  section  of  the  Sakas 
at  a later  date  pushed  on  southward  and  occupied  the  peninsula  of 
Surashtra,  founding  a Saka  dynasty  which  lasted  for  centuries.  This 
country  is  referred  to  by  the  author  of  the  Periplus  in  § 38  as  “subject 
to  Parthian  princes  who  were  constantly  driving  each  other  out.” 

The  Sakas  of  India  seem  to  have  been  subject  to  the  Parthians, 
and  Indo-Parthian  princes  appear  at  Cabul  and  in  the  Panjab  about 
120  B.  C.  There  is  a long  line  of  Parthian  princes  recorded  as  rul- 
ing in  Cabul;  among  them  Gondophares,  who  acceded  in  21  A.  D. 
and  reigned  in  Cabul  and  the  Panjab  for  thirty  years.  This  is  the 
same  prince  who  is  mentioned  in  the  apocryphal  ‘Acts  of  St.  Thomas,’ 


186 


which,  although  not  composed  until  the  third  century  A.  D.,  reflects 
the  prominence  with  which  his  name  was  regarded  in  the  history  of 
the  time. 

The  Indo-Parthian  princes  were  gradually  driven  southward  by 
the  advancing  Yueh-chi,  who  had  expelled  the  last  of  them  from  the 
Panjab  before  the  end  of  the  first  century  A.  D. — that  is,  at  the  time 
of  this  work. 

The  Yueh-chi,  whose  westward  migration  started  all  this 
trouble,  had  settled  in  Bactria  north  of  the  Oxus  River  about  70 
B.  C.  The  scattered  tribes  were  gradually  brought  together  under  a 
central  power,  and  their  wandering  habits  were  changed  for  agricul- 
ture and  industry;  so  that  when  the  Yueh-chi  nation  was  unified 
under  Kadphises  I,  who  began  to  rule  in  45  A.  D.,  it  represented  a 
different  people  from  the  savages  who  had  overwhelmed  the  Greek 
Kingdom  of  Bactria.  Kadphises  reigned  over  Bokhara  and  Afghani- 
stan for  40  years,  and  was  .succeeded  by  his  son  Kadphises  II,  who 
extended  his  conquests  into  India. 

The  Chinese  emperors  had  never  abandoned  their  assertion  of 
sovereignty  over  the  Yueh-chi.  An  embassy  was  sent  from  China 
to  the  Oxus  River  in  the  years  125-115  B.  C.  to  try  to  persuade  the 
Yueh-chi  to  return  to  China,  but  the  mission  was  unsuccessful,  and 
subsequent  revolutions  kept  Chinese  interest  at  home  between  100 
B.  C.  and  70  A.  D. 

A Tartar  army  under  the  Chinese  General  Pan  Chao  reasserted 
Chinese  supremacy  over  all  of  Central  Asia,  extending  its  conquests 
as  far  as  the  Caspian  Sea.  Thus,  with  the  submission  of  Khotan  and 
Kashgar  to  Chinese  armies  in  73  A.  D.,  the  route  south  of  the  Cen- 
tral Asian  desert  was  thrown  open  to  commerce  from  end  to  end. 
With  the  reduction  of  Kuche  and  Kharachar  in  94  A.  D.,  the  route 
north  of  the  desert  was  also  thrown  open,  and  for  the  first  time  regular 
commerce  between  East  and  West  was  made  possible. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  route  was  still  policed  by 
savage  tribes  only  nominally  subject  to  the  Chinese  Empire,  and 
while  communication  was  opened  up  immediately,  trade  was  not 
carried  on  in  large  volume  until  the  time  of  the  Roman  Emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius,  100  years  later. 

Kadphises  II,  ruler  of  the  Yueh-chi,  who  had  in  the  meantime 
extended  his  conquest  into  India  but  not  yet  as  far  as  the  Indus  delta, 
sent  an  army  of  70,000  cavalry  against  the  Chinese  General  Pan  Chao, 
and  was  totally  defeated  near  Kashgar;  and  was  obliged  for  some 
years  to  send  tribute  to  China. 


187 


About  95  A.  D.  he  began  his  further  conquests  of  India,  and 
his  kingdom  reached  as  far  as  Benares  and  Ghazipur  on  the  Ganges 
River. 

The  Yueh-chi  opened  up  the  commerce  between  India  and 
the  Roman  Empire.  Here,  as  in  Central  Asia,  the  trade  had  been 
merely  incidental  and  subject  to  depredations  of  numerous  savage 
tribes.  The  Parthians  had  done  what  they  could  to  control  and  or- 
ganize it  and  to  levy  tribute  on  the  Roman  merchants,  but  they  had 
not  controlled  it  to  the  eastward.  The  existence  of  unified  power  in 
the  Indus  Valley  and  Afghanistan  made  possible  a regular  trade  from 
the  Ganges  to  the  Euphrates.  The  rapid  growth  of  such  trade  is 
indicated  by  the  coinage  of  the  Yueh-chi  Kings  in  India.  Kadphises  I 
struck  coins  in  bronze  only,  which  were  imitated  from  those  of  Au- 
gustus. Kadphises  II  imitated  the  gold  coins  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
which  were  then  pouring  into  India  in  a steady  stream.  In  Southern 
India,  where  there  was  an  active  Roman  maritime  trade,  there  was 
no  native  gold  coinage,  the  Roman  being  sufficient. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Indian  embassy,  which  offered  its  con- 
gratulations in  Rome  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  was  dispatched  by 
Kadphises  II,  to  announce  his  conquest  of  Northwestern  India. 

47.  Alexander  penetrated  to  the  Ganges. — This  is,  of 

course,  quite  untrue,  the  Panjab  having  been  the  turning-point  of  his 
expedition.  The  great  mass  of  India  was  entirely  unaffected  by  his 
invasion,  except  as  it  led  to  the  subsequent  centralization  of  power 
under  Chandragupta  Maurya.  Our  author  is  confusing  Alexander  with 
Menander. 

“The  East  bowed  low  before  the  blast 
In  patient,  deep  disdain; 

She  let  the  legions  thunder  past, 

And  plunged  in  thought  again.” 

Matthew  Arnold:  Obermann . 

48.  Ozene. — This  is  the  modern  Ujjain,  23°  IE  N. , 75°  M' 
E. , the  chief  city  of  Malwa.  The  Sanscrit  form  is  Ujjayirii , “vic- 
torious.” The  Prakrit  is  Ujjeni,  from  which  the  Greek  is  derived. 

Ujjain  is  one  of  the  seven  sacred  cities  of  India,  not  yielding 
even  to  Benares.  In  Hindu  legend  it  was  here  that  the  elbow  of 
Sat!  fell,  on  the  dismemberment  of  her  body  by  Siva.  The  river  Sipra, 
on  which  it  is  located,  is  also  sacred.  The  place  was  important  under 
the  earliest  Aryan  settlements  in  Malwa.  In  early  times  it  was  known 
as  AvantI,  a kingdom  which  is  described  in  Buddhist  literature  as  one 
of  the  four  great  powers  of  India.  As  Ujjeni  it  is  very  prominent 
in  Buddhist  records,  having  been  the  birthplace  of  Kachana,  one  of 


188 


Sakyamuni’ s greatest  disciples.  Here  was  a Buddhist  monastery  known 
as  the  Southern  Mount,  while  it  was  the  principal  stage  on  the  route 
from  the  Deccan  to  Sravasti,  then  the  capital  of  the  great  kingdom  of 
Kosala.  Here  also  in  his  younger  days  Asoka,  later  emperor,  and 
the  greatest  patron  of  Buddhism,  was  stationed  as  viceroy  of  the 
western  provinces  of  the  Maurya  Empire.  This  was  the  custom  also 
in  several  subsequent  dynasties,  on  both  sides  of  the  Vindhyas,  for  the 
heir-apparent  to  act  as  viceroy  in  the  western  provinces. 

Ujjeni  was  the  Greenwich  of  India,  the  first  meridian  of  longi- 
tude of  its  geographers.  By  its  location  it  was  a trade  center  for  all 
produce  imported  at  Barygaza,  whence  distribution  was  made  to  the 
Ganges  kingdoms.  At  the  time  of  the  Periplus  it  was  no  longer  a 
capital,  the  royal  seat  being  at  “Minnagara.”  The  Maurya  empire 
had  broken  up,  and  in  the  anarchy  following  the  irruptions  in  the 
northwest,  its  western  provinces  of  Surashtra  and  Malwa  had  been 
raided  by  Saka  freebooters,  who  finally  established  themselves  in  power 
as  the  “Western  Satraps, ” or  Kshatrapa  dynasty.  For  a generation 
or  so  before  the  formal  proclamation  of  the  dynasty  the  invaders’ 
stronghold  was  their  capital.  After  their  claims  were  recognized  they 
probably  ruled  from  Ujjeni,  which  Ptolemy  describes  as  the  capital  of 
Tiastenos  or  Chashtana,  the  Kshatrapa  ruler  of  his  time.  It  re- 
mained, apparently,  in  Saka  hands  until  about  the  5th  century  A.  D., 
when  it  reverted  to  Brahman  power  under  the  Gupta  Empire;  this 
expulsion  of  the  “misbelieving  foreigners”  giving  rise  to  the  tradition 
of  Vikramaditya  of  Ujjain,  the  King  Arthur  of  India,  at  whose  court 
the  “nine  gems,”  the  brightest  geniuses  of  India,  were  supposed  to 
have  flourished. 

(See  Imperial  Gazetteer,  VIII,  279-280;  XXIV,  112-114;  Las- 
sen, I,  116.') 

48.  Spikenard  : Nardostachys  jatamansi,  order  Valerianacea: . A 
perennial  herb  of  the  alpine  Himalaya,  which  extends  eastward  from 
Garhwal  and  ascends  to  17,000  feet  in  Sikkim.  “The  drug  consists 
of  a portion  of  the  rhizome,  about  as  thick  as  the  little  finger,  sur- 
mounted by  a bundle  of  reddish-brown  fibers,  the  remains  of  the 
radical  leaves.  It  is  aromatic  and  bitter,  and  yields  on  distillation  an 
essential  oil.  In  India  it  is  largely  used  as  an  aromatic  adjunct  in  the 
preparation  of  medicinal  oils,  and  is  popularly  believed  to  increase  the 
growth  and  blackness  of  the  hair.”  (Watt,  op.  cit.,  792.) 

According  to  Pliny  (XII,  26),  “Leaf  nard  varies  in  price  accord- 
ing to  the  size;  for  that  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  hadrosphae- 
rum,  consisting  of  the  larger  leaves,  sells  at  40  denarii  per  pound. 
When  the  leaves  are  smaller,  it  is  called  mesosphaerum,  and  is  sold 


189 


at  60.  But  that  which  is  considered  the  most  valuable  of  all,  is  known 
as  microsphaerum,  and  consists  of  the  very  smallest  of  the  leaves;  it 
sells  at  75  denarii  per  pound.  All  these  varieties  of  nard  have  an 
agreeable  odor,  but  it  is  most  powerful  when  fresh.  If  the  nard  is 
old  when  gathered  that  which  is  of  a black  color  is  considered  the 
best.” 

Pliny  observes  that  leaf  nard,  or  spikenard,  held  the  first  place  in 
Rome  among  the  ointments  of  his  day.  Compare  Mark  XIV,  3-5, 
which  tells  of  the  “alabaster  box  of  ointment  of  spikenard  very  pre- 
cious,” valued  at  more  than  300  denarii. 

See  under  § 24:  also,  for  further  references,  Lassen,  I,  288-9. 

48.  Caspapyra. — This  is  the  Greek  form  of  the  Sanscrit 
Kasyapapura,  “city  of  the  Kasyapa.”  The  same  word  survives  in 
the  modern  Kashmir,  which  is  from  the  Sanscrit  Kasyapamata  (pro- 
nounced pamara),  and  meaning  “home  of  the  Kasyapa”  (one  of  the 
‘previous  Buddhas.’)  According  to  the  division  of  the  Greek  geog- 
raphers, Gandhara  was  the  country  below  Cabul,  while  Kasyapamata 
was  the  adjoining  district  in  India  proper.  (See  Lassen,  I,  142; 
II,  631.) 

It  was  from  a town  named  Caspapyra,  that  Scylax  of  Caryanda 
began  his  voyage  of  discovery  at  the  command  of  the  Persian  king 
Darius.  The  story  is  given  by  Herodotus  (IV,  44).  He  refers  to 
the  place  as  being  “in  the  Pactyan  land,”  and  Hecataeus  calls  it  “a 
city  of  the  Gandaraeans.”  It  could  not  have  been  far  above  the 
modern  Attock  (33°  53‘  N. , 72°  15’  E. ).  Vincent  Smith  ( Early 
History,  32)  doubts  the  connection  of  the  name  with  Kashmir;  but 
while  outside  the  present  limits  of  that  district,  it  is  not  impossible 
that  its  earlier  extension  was  wider.  The  fact  that  the  Periplus  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  Gandhara  points  in  that  direction. 

48.  Paropanisus  was  the  name  given  the  mountain-range 
now  called  Hindu  Kush.  It  was  made  the  boundary  between  the 
empire  of  Seleucus,  Alexander’s  successor,  and  that  of  Chandragupta 
Maurya,  by  a treaty  ratified  in  303  B.  C. ; by  which  the  newly-estab- 
lished Indian  empire  received  the  provinces  of  the  Paropanisadae, 
Aria,  Arachosia  and  Gedrosia.  “The  first  Indian  emperor,  more 
than  two  thousand  years  ago,  thus  entered  into  possession  of  ‘that 
scientific  frontier’  sighed  for  in  vain  by  his  English  successors,  and 
never  held  in  its  entirety  even  by  the  Mogul  monarchs  of  the  16th 
and  17th  centuries.”  (Vincent  Smith,  Early  History,  113;  also 
132-4;  Strabo,  XV,  i,  10  and  ii,  9;  Plutarch,  Alexander,  lxii;  Justin, 
XV,  4;  Pliny,  VI,  20;  Arrian,  Anabasis,  V,  5;  Indica,  II.  See 
also  Holdich,  Gates  of  India.  ) 


190 


48.  The  Cabolitic  country  is,  of  course,  the  modern  Cabul 
valley,  above  the  Khyber  Pass;  being  within  the  present  limits  of 
Afghanistan. 

48.  Scythia. — See  under  §41.  This  was  the  region  which  was 
subject  to  the  Parthian  princes,  weak  successors  of  Gondophares, 
whose  reign  had  ended  about  51  A.  D. 

49.  Lead. — Pliny  (XXXIV,  47-50)  distinguishes  between  black 
lead  and  white  lead;  the  former  being  our  lead,  the  latter  tin  (see 
also  under  § 7).  White  lead  he  says  came  from  Lusitania  and 
Galicia,  doubting  its  reported  origin  in  “islands  of  the  Atlantic,”  and 
its  transportation  in  “boats  made  of  osiers,  covered  with  hides.’’ 

Black  lead,  he  says,  came  from  Cantabria  in  Spain,  and  his  de- 
scription suggests  galena,  or  sulphide  of  lead  and  silver.  It  came  also 
from  Britain,  and  from  Lusitania — where  the  Santarensian  mine  was 
farmed  at  an  annual  rental  of  250,000  denarii. 

Lead  was  used  in  the  form  of  pipes  and  sheets,  and  had  many 
medicinal  uses,  being  used  in  calcined  form,  made  into  tablets  in  the 
same  way  as  antimony  (see  under  this  §),  or  mixed  with  grease  and 
wine.  It  was  used  as  an  astringent  and  repressive,  and  for  cicatriza- 
tion; in  the  treatment  of  ulcers,  burns,  etc.,  and  in  eye  preparations; 
while  thin  plates  of  lead  worn  next  the  body  were  supposed  to  have 
a cooling  and  beneficial  effect. 

As  an  import  at  Barygaza  lead  was  required  largely  for  the  coinage 
of  the  Saka  dominions. 

49.  Bright-colored  girdles. — These  were  probably  for  the 
Bhlls,  a Dravidian  hill-tribe,  who  worked  the  carnelian  mines  then  as 
now.  The  modern  Coorgs,  a related  tribe,  still  wear  a distinctive 
“girdle-scarf”  which  is  now  made  at  Sirangala.  ( Imp . Gaz. , VIII, 
101-4;  IX,  36.) 

49.  Sweet  clover. — This  is  Trifolium  melilotus , order  Legn- 
minosce,  the  “melilote”  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  used  for  making 
chaplets  and  perfumes,  and  medicinally.  Pliny  (XXI,  29)  says  the 
best  sorts  were  from  Campania  in  Italy,  Cape  Sunium  in  Greece,  also 
from  Chalcidice  and  Crete;  native  always  in  rugged  and  wild  localities. 
“The  name  sertula,  garland,  which  it  bears  sufficiently  proves  that 
this  plant  was  formerly  much  used  in  the  composition  of  chaplets. 
The  smell,  as  well  as  the  flower,  closely  resembles  that  of  saffron, 
though  the  stem  itself  is  white;  the  shorter  and  more  fleshy  the  leaves, 
the  more  highly  it  is  esteemed.”  And  again  (XXI,  87),  “the  meli- 
lote applied  with  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  or  else  linseed,  effects  the  cure 
of  diseases  of  the  eyes.  It  assuages  pains,  too,  in  the  jaws  and  head, 


191 


applied  with  rose  oil;  and  employed  with  raisin  wine,  it  is  good  for 
pains  in  the  ears,  and  all  kinds  of  swellings  or  eruptions  on  the  hands. 
A decoction  of  it  in  wine,  or  else  the  plant  itself  beaten  up  raw,  is 
good  for  pains  in  the  stomach.” 

Concerning  the  use  of  chaplets  in  the  Roman  world,  Pliny  gives 
many  details  (XXI,  1-10).  The  chaplet  was  a crown  of  honor 
given  the  victors  in  the  sacred  games.  Originally  laurel  and  other 
tree  foliage  was  used;  flowers  were  added  by  the  painter  Pausias,  at 
Sicyon,  about  380  B.  C.  Then  came  the  “Egyptian  chaplet”  of 
ivy,  narcissus,  and  pomegranate  blossoms,  and  then  a durable  article 
of  thin  laminas  of  horn,  and  of  leaves  of  gold,  silver,  or  tinsel,  plain 
or  embossed. 

Chaplets  were  won  by  personal  prowess  in  the  games,  or  by  that 
of  slaves  or  horses  entered  by  the  winner,  and  gave  the  victor  ‘ ‘the 
right,  for  himself  and  for  his  parents,  after  death,  to  be  crowned 
without  fail,  while  the  body  was  laid  out  in  the  house,  and  on  its 
being  carried  to  the  tomb.  On  other  occasions,  chaplets  were  not 
indiscriminately  worn. 

The  use  of  chaplets  by  those  not  entitled  to  them  was  forbidden 
by  law,  and  Pliny  cites  several  cases  of  punishment  for  the  offence. 

Chaplets  were  used  also  in  honor  of  the  gods,  the  Lares,  the 
sepulchres  and  the  Manes;  this  custom  still  surviving  in  the  laying  of 
immortelles  on  tombs  of  departed  friends. 

“Atque  aliquis  senior  veteres  veneratus  amores, 

Annua  constructo  serta  dabit  tumulo.” 

— Tibullus,  II,  4. 

For  such  uses  the  plaited  chaplet,  the  rose  chaplet,  and  various 
devices  embroidered  by  hand,  came  into  use,  and  Pliny  notes  that  in 
his  time  there  was  a demand  for  chaplets  imported  from  India,  made 
of  nard  leaves  on  fabrics,  “or  else  of  silk  of  many  colors  steeped  in 
unguents.  Such  is  the  pitch  to  which  the  luxuriousness  of  our  women 
has  at  last  arrived ! ’ ’ 

It  would  seem  as  if  this  sweet  clover  might  also  be  intended  for 
the  manufacture  of  chaplets  for  re-exportation  to  Rome. 

49.  Realgar. — The  text  is  sandarake.  This  is  the  red  sulphide 
of  arsenic.  It  was  principally  from  Persia  and  Carmania,  and  reached 
India  from  various  Persian  Gulf  ports.  In  modern  times  both  realgar 
and  orpiment  are  produced  in  large  quantities  in  Burma  and  China, 
where  it  is  not  impossible  that  production  existed  at  the  time  of  the 
Periplus. 

Pliny  (XXXIV,  55)  says  “the  redder  it  is  the  more  pure  and 
friable,  and  the  more  powerful  its  odor  the  better  it  is  in  quality.  It 


192 


is  detergent,  astringent,  heating,  and  corrosive,  but  it  is  most  remark- 
able for  its  antiseptic  properties.”  Dioscorides  (V,  122)  says  it  was 
burned  with  resin  and  the  smoke  inhaled  through  a tube,  as  a remedy 
for  coughs,  asthma,  or  bronchitis.  Theophrastus  also  describes  its 
properties. 

The  Greek  word  survives  in  the  modern  gum  sandarac  from 
Callitris  quadrivalvis,  order  Conifer  a,  produced  in  Algeria  and  Mo- 
rocco; but  this  was  not  its  meaning  in  classical  times.  The  word  is 
of  eastern  origin,  referring  apparently  to  the  color,  and  was  extended 
from  ore  to  gum  because  of  appearance,  reversing  the  process  in  the 
case  of  cinnabar  (§  30). 

The  wood  in  this  sandarac  tree  was  much  valued  by  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  for  furniture,  being,  perhaps,  the  ‘‘thyine  wood’ ’ of 
Revelation  XVIII,  12. 

Tavernier  also  (II,  xii)  found  'Vermillion’’  brought  by  the  Dutch 
to  trade  for  pepper. 

49.  Antimony. — The  text  is  stimmi.  This  was  the  sulphide 
ore,  stibnite.  It  was  made  into  ointments  and  eye-tinctures,  both  in 
India  and  Egypt.  The  ore  came  from  Eastern  Arabia  and  Carmania, 
and  is  mentioned  in  an  Egyptian  inscription  in  the  tomb  of  Khnum- 
hotep  II,  at  Benihasan  (under  Sesostris  II,  1900  B C. ),  being  brought 
by  “Asiatics  of  the  desert.” 

Pliny  (XXXIII,  33-4)  describes  it  as  found  in  silver  mines,  “a 
stone  made  of  concrete  froth,  white  and  shining  . . . being  possessed 
of  astringent  and  refrigerative  properties;  its  principal  use,  in  medi- 
cine, being  for  the  eyes.”  Pounded  with  frankincense  and  gum,  it 
was  valued  as  a cure  for  various  eye  irritations,  and  mixed  with  grease, 
as  a cure  for  burns.  But  its  main  use  was  for  dilating  the  pupils  and 
for  painting  the  eyebrows.  Omphale,  the  Lydian  queen  who  capti- 
vated Hercules,  is  represented  by  the  poet  Ion  as  using  stimmi  in  her 
toilet;  Jezebel,  in  II  Kings,  IX,  30,  probably  used  it  when  she 
“painted  her  face  and  tired  her  head;”  while  it  is  the  chief  ingre- 
dient in  the  kohl  used  by  women  in  modern  Egypt  and  Persia. 

Pliny  and  Dioscorides  (V,  99)  agree  in  their  description  of  its 
preparation.  It  was  enclosed  in  dough  or  cow-dung,  burned  in  a 
furnace,  quenched  with  milk  or  wine,  and  beaten  with  rain-water  in 
a mortar.  This  being  decanted  from  time  to  time,  the  finest  powder 
was  allowed  to  settle,  dried  under  linen,  and  divided  into  tablets. 

49.  Gold  and  silver  coin. — The  Roman  aureus  and  denarius 
were  current  throughout  Western  India,  and  strongly  influenced  the 
Kushan  and  Kshatrapa  coinages.  See  under  § 56;  also  Rapson, 
Indian  Coins. 


193 


The  profit  on  the  exchange  was  due  to  the  superiority  of  the 
Roman  coinage  to  that  of  India,  which  latter  was  still  crude,  of  base 
metal  (bronze  or  lead),  for  which  even  the  bullion,  (copper,  tin  and 
lead),  was  imported. 

49.  Ivory. — For  references  see  Lassen,  I,  311-315.  The 
original  word  is  ibha,  1 ‘elephant.  ” From  this  came  the  word  used  in 
I Kings,  X,  22,  shen  habbiti,  “elephant’s  teeth,”  which  the  Hebrews 
shortened  to  shen,  “tooth,”  which  is  the  word  used  in  Amos,  III,  15; 
Cant.  V,  14.  In  ancient  Egypt  this  word  ibha  became  abu,  whence 
the  Roman  and  Etruscan  ebur  for  ivory.  The  Greek  elephas , or  rather 
the  root  form  elephantos,  applied  first  to  the  ivory  and  later  to  the 
animal,  was  the  Arabic  article  el  and  the  Sanscrit  ibhadanta , “elephant’s 
teeth.” 

49.  Agate  and  carnelian. — See  also  under  § 6.  The  text  is 
onychine  lithia  kai  mourrhine. 

According  to  Watt  {op.  cit.,  561),  the  murrhine  vases  and  other 
articles  which  were  so  highly  prized  in  Mediterranean  countries,  were 
largely  of  agate,  carnelian  and  the  like,  and  came  from  the  Gulf  of 
Cambay,  which  was  the  chief  market  for  that  Indian  industry. 

The  stone  is  from  the  amygdaloidal  Hows  of  the  Deccan  trap, 
chiefly  from  the  State  of  Rajpipla.  The  most  important  place  at  which 
agates  are  now  cut  is  Cambay,  but  the  industry  exists  also  at  Jabbal- 
pur  and  elsewhere  within  reach  of  the  Deccan  trap.  They  are 
much  used  for  ornamental  and  decorative  purposes,  being  made  into 
brooches,  rings,  seals,  cups,  etc. 

While  collecting  the  pebbles  the  miners  divide  them  into  two 
primary  classes — those  that  are  not  improved  by  burning,  and  those 
that  are.  Of  the  former  there  are  three — onyx,  cat’s  eye,  and  a 
yellow  half-clear  pebble  called  rori.  All  other  stones  are  baked  to 
bring  out  their  color.  During  the  hot  season,  generally  in  March  and 
April,  the  stones  are  spread  in  the  sun  in  an  open  field.  Then,  in 
May,  a trench,  two  feet  deep  by  three  wide,  is  dug  round  the  field. 
The  pebbles  are  gathered  into  earthen  pots,  which,  with  their  mouths 
down  and  a hole  broken  in  their  bottoms,  are  set  in  a row  in  the 
trench.  Round  the  pots,  goat  or  cow-dung  cakes  are  piled,  and  the 
whole  kept  burning  from  sunset  to  sunrise.  The  pots  are  then  taken 
out,  the  stones  examined,  and  the  good  ones  stowed  in  bags.  About 
the  end  of  May  the  bags  are  carried  to  the  Narbada  and  floated  to 
Broach  (Barygaza). 

By  this  treatment  the  light  browns  brighten  into  white,  and  the 
darker  shades  into  chestnut.  Of  yellows,  maize  becomes  rosy,  orange 
deepens  into  red,  and  an  intermediate  shade  becomes  a pinkish  purple. 


194 


Pebbles  in  which  cloudy  browns  and  yellows  were  first  mixed  are  now 
marked  by  clear  bands  of  white  and  red.  The  hue  of  the  red  car- 
nelian  varies  from  the  palest  flesh  to  the  deepest  blood-red.  The  best 
are  of  a deep,  clear,  and  even  red  color.  The  larger  and  thicker  the 
stone,  the  more  it  is  esteemed.  White  carnelians  are  scarce,  and 
when  of  large  size  and  good  quality  are  much  esteemed. 

This  burning  of  agates  is  fully  described  by  Barbosa  in  1517,  and 
seems  to  be  of  very  ancient  date.  It  was  then,  as  now,  chiefly 
the  industry  of  the  Bhlls,  an  ancient  Dravidian  tribe  which  may 
formerly  have  possessed  the  Cambay  coast,  but  had  been  driven 
to  the  hills  by  later  invaders.  It  is  this  product,  in  all  probability, 
which  is  the  “onyx  stone”  of  Genesis  II,  12,  which  reached  the 
ancient  world  through  the  “land  of  Havilah”  on  the  Persian  Gulf. 

Pliny  (XXXVII,  7,  8)  says  that  murrhine  was  first  known  to 
the  Romans  after  the  conquests  of  Pompey  the  Great  in  Asia;  that  it 
was  fabulously  dear,  T.  Petronius  having  broken  one  of  Nero’s  basins 
valued  at  300,000  sesterces,  while  Nero  himself  paid  1,000,000  ses- 
terces for  a single  cup.  Pliny  attributes  the  vessels  to  Parthia  and 
Carmania.  They  were  of  moderate  size  only,  seldom  as  large  as  a 
drinking-cup,  supposed  to  be  of  a moist  substance,  solidified  by  heat 
under  ground;  shining  rather  than  brilliant;  having  a great  variety  of 
colors,  with  wreathed  veins,  presenting  shades  of  purple  and  white, 
with  fiery  red  between.  Others  were  quite  opaque.  They  occasion- 
ally contained  crystals,  and  depressed  spots  that  looked  like  warts. 
They  were  said  to  have  an  agreeable  taste  and  smell. 

While  Pliny’s  description  is  not  very  definite,  it  suggests  agate 
more  than  any  other  substance,  and  the  reference  to  Parthia  and  Car- 
mania  rather  than  to  the  Gulf  of  Cambay  means  that  until  the  Romans 
discovered  the  sea-route  to  India  they  were  dependent  on  the  Parthian 
trade-routes  for  their  Eastern  treasures,  and  had  only  such  information, 
often  misleading,  as  the  Parthians  offered  them. 

49.  Silk  cloth. — See  under  §§  49  and  64. 

49.  Mallow  cloth. — See  also  under  § 6.  This  was  a coarse 
fabric,  like  the  native  cloth  made  by  the  East  African  negroes,  which 
is  imitated  by  the  modern  blue  drill.  It  was  dyed  with  the  flowers 
of  Hibiscus  Rosa-Sinensis,  order  Malvacea , a shrub  which  is  native 
throughout  India  and  China.  See  Watt,  p.  629. 

49.  Long  pepper:  Piper longum,  Linn. , order  Piperacea.  Watt 
(p.  891),  says  it  is  a perennial  shrub,  native  of  the  hotter  parts  of 
India  from  Nepal  eastward  to  Assam,  the  Khasia  hills  and  Bengal, 
westward  to  Bombay,  and  southward  to  Travancore  and  Ceylon. 
The  Sanscrit  name  pippali  was  originally  given  to  this  plant,  and  only 


195 


within  comparatively  recent  times  was  transferred  to  black  pepper. 
Long  pepper  is  mentioned  by  Pliny  (XII,  7)  as  well  as  the  Periplus. 

The  fruit  is  gathered  when  green,  and  is  preserved  by  drying  in 
the  sun.  The  dried  unripe  fruit  and  the  root  have  long  been  used  in 
medicine. 

50.  Dachinabades. — This  is  the  Sanscrit  dakshinapathas,  "'the 
way  toward  the  south;”  Prakrit  dakkhinabadha:  the  modern  Deccan. 

50.  Many  populous  nations. — An  interesting  account  is 
given  by  T.  C.  Evans,  Greek  and  Roman  India , in  the  Anglo-American 
Magazine  for  1901,  pp.  294-306.  His  conclusion  is  that  “the 
Greek  invader  found  there  an  ancient  and  highly  organized  society, 
differing  little  in  its  usages  and  modes  of  living  from  those  which  exist 
at  the  present  time;  and  although  there  are  no  means  of  verifying  the 
conjecture,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  population  of  the  peninsula  was 
as  great  in  that  period  as  in  our  own.”  If  this  view  is  correct,  India 
was  the  most  populous  region  of  the  world  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus, 
as  it  was  the  most  cultivated,  the  most  active  industrially  and  com- 
mercially, the  richest  in  natural  resources  and  production,  the  most 
highly  organized  socially,  the  most  wretched  in  the  poverty  of  its 
teeming  millions,  and  the  least  powerful  politically. 

The  great  powers  of  India  were  the  Kushan  in  the  far  northwest, 
the  Saka  in  the  Cambay  country,  the  remains  of  the  Maurya  in  the 
Ganges  watershed,  the  Andhra  in  the  Deccan,  and  the  Chera,  Pandya 
and  Chola  in  the  South.  The  economic  status  of  the  country  made 
it  impossible  that  any  one  of  these  should  possess  political  force  com- 
mensurate with  its  population,  resources  and  industries.  It  was  made  up 
of  village  communities,  which  recognized  the  military  power  only  so  far 
as  they  were  compelled  to  do  so;  and  they  were  relatively  unconcerned 
in  dynastic  changes,  except  to  note  the  change  in  their  oppressors. 

For  a contemporary  account  of  the  nations  of  India,  see  Pliny, 
VI,  21-3. 

51.  Paethana:  Sanscrit,  Pratisthana.  This  is  the  modern 
Paithan,  on  the  Godaverl  River  (19°  28'  N. , 75°  24'  E.  ).. 

According  to  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  (XIX,  317),  Paithan  is  one 
of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  Deccan.  Asoka  sent  missionaries  to  the 
Petenikas,  and  inscriptions  of  the  2d  century  B.  C.  in  the  Pitalkhara 
caves  refer  to  the  king  and  merchants  of  Pratisthana.  Ptolemy  men- 
tions it  as  the  capital  of  Pulumayi  II,  the  Andhra  king  (138-170  A.D. ) ; 
but  it  was  probably  the  capital  of  the  western  provinces,  the  seat  of 
the  Andhra  monarchs  having  been  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  kingdom, 
at  Dhanyakataka,  the  modern  Dharanikotta,  on  the  Kistna  river  just 
above  Amaravati  (16°  34'  N.,  80°  22'  E. ). 


196 


According  to  the  Periplus,  Paithan  was  an  important  center  of  the 
textile  industry.  To-day  it  retains  a considerable  manufacture  of  cot- 
ton and  silk.  Almost  all  traces  of  the  ancient  city  are  said  to  have 
disappeared. 

51.  Tagara. — The  Sanscrit  name  had  the  same  form,  appear- 
ing in  several  records  between  the  6th  and  10th  centuries  A.  D.  The 
place  is  identified  by  Fleet  with  the  modern  Ter  (Thair)  (18°  19' 
N.,  76°  9'  E. ),  being  a contraction  of  Tayara , the  g and  y being 
frequently  interchanged.  It  is  about  95  miles  southeast  of  Paithan, 
and  agrees  substantially  with  the  distance  and  direction  given  in  the 
text.  From  Broach  to  Paithan  the  actual  distance,  by  road,  is  about 
240  miles,  and  from  Paithan  to  Ter  104  miles,  being  20  and  9 days’ 
journey  of  12  miles,  respectively.  There  are  said  to  be  some  very 
interesting  remains  of  the  ancient  city. 

As  pointed  out  by  Campbell,  the  “merchandise  from  the  regions 
along  the  sea-coast”  was  not  from  the  west  coast,  but  from  the  Bay 
of  Bengal;  and  Fleet  traces  briefly  the  routes — the  first  starting  at 
Masulipatam  (16°  11’  N. , 81°  8'  E. ),  and  the  second  from  Vinu- 
konda  (T6°  3'  N.,  79°  44'  E. ),  joining  about  25  miles  southeast  of 
Haidarabad,  and  proceeding  through  Ter,  Paithan,  and  Daulatabad, 
to  Markinda  (in  the  Ajanta  Hills)-  Here  the  main  difficulties  began, 
through  the  Western  Ghats,  over  the  100  miles  to  Broach. 

This  was  the  great  highway  of  the  Andhra  kingdom,  and  its 
natural  terminus  was  at  Calliena  in  Bombay  Harbor,  as  suggested  in 
§52.  The  obstruction  of  that  port  by  the  Saka  power  in  Gujarat 
forced  the  tedious  overland  extension  of  the  route,  through  the  moun- 
tains, to  Barygaza. 

(See  J.  F.  Fleet,  Tagara:  Ter , in  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  So- 
ciety, 1901,  pp.  537-552;  Sir  James  Campbell,  in  Gazetteer  of  the 
Bombay  Presidency,  xvi,  181;  H.  Cousens,  Archaeological  Survey  of  India, 
Annual  Report,  1902-3,  p.  195;  Imperial  Gazetteer,  II,  82;  xxiii,  284.) 

51.  Country  without  roads. — Tavernier  says  of  the  Dec- 
can  (I,  xi)  “wheel  carriages  do  not  travel,  the  roads  being  too  much 
interrupted  by  high  mountains,  tanks,  and  rivers,  and  there  being 
many  narrow  and  difficult  passes.  It  is  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
one  takes  a small  cart.  I was  obliged  to  take  mine  to  pieces  fre- 
quently in  order  to  pass  bad  places.  There  are  no  wagons,  and  you 
only  see  oxen  and  pack-horses  for  the  conveyance  of  men,  and  for 
the  transport  of  goods  and  merchandise.  But  in  default  of  chariots, 
you  have  the  convenience  of  much  larger  palanquins  than  in  the  rest 
of  India;  for  one  is  carried  much  more  easily,  more  quickly,  and  at 
less  cost.  ” 


197 


52.  Slippara. — This  is  the  modern  Sopara  (19°  25'  N.,  72° 
41'  E. ),  a few  miles  north  of  Bombay.  It  is  said  to  have  been  the 
capital  of  the  Konkan  between  50*0  B.  C.  and  1300  A.  D.  It  appears 
in  the  Mahabharata  as  Shurparaka,  as  a very  holy  place.  Some  Bud- 
dhist writings  assert  that  Gautama  Buddha,  in  a former  birth,  was 
Bodhisattva  of  Sopara.  See  Imp.  Gaz. , XXIII,  87. 

52.  Calliena. — This  is  the  modern  Kalyana  (19°  14'  N.,  73° 
10'  E. ),  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  harbor  of  Bombay.  It  was  the 
principal  port  of  the  Andhra  kingdom  during  the  periods  when  it  held 
the  west  coast.  According  to  Lassen,  the  name  was  also  applied  to 
the  strip  of  coast  on  either  side  of  the  harbor,  roughly  between  1 8° 
and  20°  N. 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  in  the  6th  century  A.  D.,  found  it  one 
of  the  five  chief  marts  of  Western  India,  the  capital  of  the  powerful 
Chalukya  kings,  with  a trade  in  brass,  blackwood  logs,  and  articles  of 
clothing.  See  Imp.  Gaz.,  XIV,  322. 

The  word  kalyana  means  ''blest,”  and  is  at  least  reminiscent  of 
similar  names  on  the  western  shores  of  the  Erythraean  Sea. 

52.  The  elder  Saraganus;  Sandares;  to  which  should  be 
added  NambanilS  of  § 41.  (The  text  has  Sandanes  and  Mambarus.  ) 
Here  are  three  important  references,  both  for  fixing  the  date  of  the 
Periplus  and  for  throwing  light  on  a dark  period  of  Indian  history. 

The  great  empire  of  the  Mauryas  went  to  pieces  in  the  2d  cen- 
tury B.  C.,  leaving  as  its  strongest  successor  its  Dravidian  element, 
the  Andhra  country  in  the  Deccan,  which  comprised  the  valleys  of 
the  Godaverl  and  Kistna;  the  Telugu  peoples,  roughly  the  modern 
Nizam’s  dominions.  In  the  south  the  other  Dravidian  kingdoms,  the 
Tamil-speaking  Cholas,  Pandyas  and  Cheras,  retained  their  independ- 
ence as  before.  North  of  the  Yindhyas  there  was  anarchy.  The 
Bengal  states  had  resumed  their  local  governments,  while  the  West 
and  Northwest  had  succumbed  to  the  Asiatic  invaders,  the  Saka  and 
Kushan  tribes.  The  western  coast  below  the  Vindhyas  was  a bone 
of  contention  between  the  Saka  commanders  and  the  Andhra  mon- 
archs,  who  maintained  the  feud  for  at  least  a century,  with  varying 
success. 

The  provinces  of  Surashtra,  Gujarat  and  Malwa,  after  years  of 
warfare,  were  incorporated  under  a stable  government  by  the  Western 
Kshatrapa,  or  Saka  Satraps,  who  subsequently  defeated  the  Andhras 
and  annexed  the  Konkan  coast.  This  is  thought  to  have  been  the 
origin  of  the  Saka  era,  dating  from  78  A.  D. , still  largely  used  in  India. 
A half-century  later  the  Andhras  under  Vilivayakura  II,  or  Gautaml- 
putra  Satakarni,  reconquered  the  coast-land,  only  to  lose  it  to  the 


198 


Satraps  after  another  generation.  From  the  Saka  era  of  78  A.  D. 
for  46  years,  there  are  coins  of  a monarch  named  Nahapana,  by 
whom  the  line  of  the  Satraps  was  established.  This  is  thought  to  be 
the  same  as  the  Mambarus  of  § 41,  whose  name  should  be  written 
Nambanus. 

The  Andhra  kings  are  enumerated  in  the  Puranas,  which,  to- 
gether with  the  coinage,  afford  almost  the  only  information  concern- 
ing them.  A dynastic  name,  borne  by  many  of  these  monarchs,  was 
Satakarni,  and  this  is  supposed  to  be  the  Saraganus  of  § 52  (probably 
Arishta  Satakarni,  who  reigned  about  44-69  A.  D.);  while  Sandancs 
is  probably  the  same  as  Sundara  Satakarni,  whose  short  reign  of  a 
year,  succeeded  by  another  of  six  months,  is  affirmed  by  at  least  two 
of  the  Puranas.  The  reign  of  this  Sundara  (the  texr  should  be  altered 
to  Sandares)  is  fixed  by  Vincent  Smith  and  others  at  83-4  A.  D. 

From  these  facts  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  Periplus  itself  must 
be  dated  in  the  same  year,  83-4  A.  D.,  but  this  does  not  necessarily 
follow.  Its  date  is  considered  in  the  introduction,  pp.  7-15,  and 
upon  ample  evidence — Roman,  Arabian,  and  Parthian — is  fixed  at 
60  A.  D. 

If  Nambanus  of  § 41  is  the  same  as  Nahapana,  it  must  yet  be 
shown  that  he  is  the  same  as  the  great  satrap  whose  victories  over  the 
Andhras  and  conquest  of  the  Konkan  are  cited  as  one  of  the  numer- 
ous events  thought  to  be  commemorated  by  the  Saka  era  of  78  A.  D. 
At  least  one  predecessor,  formerly  thought  to  be  identical  with  that 
Nahapana,  has  now  been  distinguished  under  the  name  of  Bhumaka, 
and  the  materials  are  not  yet  at  hand  for  affirming,  or  denying,  the 
possibility  of  others,  in  the  so-called  Kshaharata  line  which  preceded 
the  achievements  of  the  Satraps. 

And  if  Sandares  of  § 52  is  the  same  as  Sundara  Satakarni,  there 
is  a great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  identifying  the  Periplus  with  the  single 
year  of  his  reign.  Calliena,  his  own  port,  he  must  be  supposed  to 
have  closed,  in  order  that  its  foreign  trade  might  be  diverted  to  Bary- 
gaza,  the  port  of  his  Saka  rival  and  bitter  enemy!  He,  the  Andhra 
monarch,  must  have  done  this,  for  the  port  was  still  “in  his  posses- 
sion;” not,  be  it  observed,  in  that  of  the  Satraps.  The  Konkans 
were  still  nominally,  though  evidently  not  effectually,  an  Andhra  de- 
pendency. 

The  inference  is  unmistakable  that  the  Periplus  is  describing  a 
state  of  things  prior  to  the  recognition  of  the  Kshatrapa  power  and  its 
annexation  of  the  Andhra  coast;  prior,  that  is,  to  the  Saka  era  of  78 
A.  D.  It  describes  clearly  enough  an  Andhra  port,  still  subject  to 
the  Andhra  kingdom,  but  harried  and  dominated,  obstructed”  as 


199 


the  text  has  it,  by  the  powerful  navy  of  its  northern  enemy,  while  that 
enemy  was  still  struggling  to  obtain  possession. 

What,  then,  of  Nahapana  and  Sundara?  The  doubt  as  to  the 
indivisibility  of  the  former  has  already  been  suggested;  as  to  the  latter, 
the  shortness  of  his  own  reign  and  those  of  his  successor  and  his 
immediate  predecessors,  and  the  length  of  that  of  his  predecessor 
Arishta  (25  years)  indicate  for  him  a long  period  of  waiting  as  one  of 
the  royal  heirs;  which,  according  to  the  Andhra  custom,  was  spent, 
at  least  in  part,  as  viceroy  at  the  western  capital,  Paithan.  Here  he 
exercised  all  the  functions  of  a monarch,  and  his  would  be  the  name 
to  appear  on  all  proclamations  issued  on  the  western  coast.  “Since  it 
came  into  the  possession  of  Sandares”  indicates,  therefore,  a date  to- 
ward the  end  of  the  reign  of  Arishta  Satakarni,  who  is  referred  to  as 
“the  elder  Saraganus,”  and  who,  it  maybe  inferred,  had  been,  as 
viceroy  at  Paithan,  a more  powerful  ruler  than  the  youthful  Sandares, 
now  struggling  against  greater  odds  to  maintain  the  Andhra  power  on 
that  coast. 

Between  Arishta  and  Sundara  the  Vayu  and  Matsya  Puranas  are 
agreed  in  placing  three  other  monarchs:  Hala  (with  whose  name  the 
adoption  of  Sanscrit  as  the  literary  language  of  Northern  India  is  so 
closely  associated),  who  reigned  5 years;  Mandalaka,  5 years; 
Purindrasena,  5 years.  Then  came  Sundara,  1 year,  and  Chakora, 
6 months,  followed  by  Siva  Satakarni,  28  years.  These  five  short 
reigns,  coming  between  two  long  ones,  seem  to  suggest  a quick  suc- 
cession of  weak  and  impractical  sons  of  a strong  monarch,  followed 
in  their  turn  by  another  long  reign  of  sterner  purpose ; a succession  of 
events  like  the  reigns  of  the  sons  of  Henry  II.  and  Catherine  de 
Medici  in  France.  This  would  account  for  the  condition  described  to 
the  author  of  the  Periplus  by  some  acquaintance  at  Barygaza:  “When 
the  old  king  Saraganus  (now  ruling  at  Dhanyakataka)  was  viceroy  at 
Paethana,  he  made  Calliena  an  active  port;  now  that  he  is  on  the  throne 
and  his  sons  have  tried  their  hand  at  the  viceroy’s  post  one  after  the 
other,  in  the  intervals  of  their  literary  and  artistic  pursuits,  and  it  has 
finally  been  turned  over  to  young  Sandares,  it  has  been  an  easy  matter 
for  our  Saka  general  to  send  down  his  ships  and  stop  its  trade.”  Had 
the  story  been  written  in  83  A.  D.,  the  informant  would  have  said, 
our  satrap  has  annexed  that  country  to  his  own  dominions,  and 
closed  its  ports.  ” 

The  same  explanation  is  perfectly  feasible  for  Nahapana,  who  is 
known  to  have  been  governor  in  Surashtra  before  he  was  satrap  at 
Ujjeni.  But  as  the  great  satrap  lived  until  the  Saka  year  46,  or  124  A.  D. , 
it  is  more  probable  that  one  of  that  name  in  60  A.  D.  was  his  predecessor. 


200 


There  are  other  explanations  of  these  three  names.  Fabricius 
alters  both  Mambarus  and  Sandanes  to  Sanabares,  supposing  him  to 
have  been  an  Indo-Parthian  successor  to  Gondop hares;  McCrindle 
thinks  Sandanes  was  a tribe-name,  and  refers  to  the  Ariake  Sadinon  of 
Ptolemy.  But  neither  supposition  is  convincing. 

The  explanation  based  on  the  Puranic  lists  and  the  coinage  has 
inherent  probability,  and  is  confirmed  by  the  description  of  political 
conditions  in  § 52  of  the  Periplus,  if  that  be  applied  to  the  reign  of 
the  Andhra  king  Arishta  Satakarni  (44-69  A.  D. ),  through  the 
medium  of  his  heir-presumptive  Sundara,  ruling  as  viceroy  at  Paithan, 
and  displaying  in  the  Konkans  the  only  show  of  Andhra  authority 
which  would  have  come  under  the  observation  of  a Graeco-Roman 
merchant  and  shipmaster. 

(See  A.-M.  Boyer,  Nahapana  et  I ere  Caka,  in  Journal  Asiatique , 
July-Aug. , 1897,  pp.  120-151;  an  excellent  paper,  in  which  the  only 
matter  for  criticism  is  that  the  inscriptions  of  the  Nabataean  Malichas 
should  be  thought  less  trustworthy  than  the  chronology  of  the  Abys- 
sinian Chronicles,  compiled  much  later. — C.  R.  Wilson,  Proposed 
identification  of  the  name  of  an  Andhra  king  in  the  Periplus , in  Journal  of 
the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  June,  1904;  with  which  the  foregoing 
suggestions  are  in  accord,  except  as  to  their  sequel. — Vincent  Smith, 
Andhra  History  and  Coinage , in  Z eitschrift  der  Deutschen  Morgen  land- 
ischen  Gesellschaft,  Sept.,  1903.— Pandit  Bhagvanlal  Indraji,  The  Western 
Kshatrapas,  in  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1890,  pp.  639-662. 

- — E J.  Rapson,  The  Coinage  of  the  Mahakshatrapas  and  Kshatrapas, 
J.  R.  A.  S.,  1899,  357-404;  same  author,  Ancient  India,  in  Nu- 
mismatic Supplement,  J.  A.  S.  B.,  1904,  p.  227.  Col.  J.  Biddulph, 
in  a note  to  Mr.  Rapson’ s first  article,  observes  that  our  knowledge  of 
the  Satraps  is  derived  solely  from  their  coins,  of  which  the  former  are 
undated;  that  each  ruler  puts  his  father’s  name  on  his  coins  as  well  as 
his  own;  that  the  dates  overlap  frequently;  and  that  of  the  two  titles, 
Mahakshatrapa  indicates  the  monarch,  and  Kshatrapa  the  heir-appar- 
ent.— Vincent  Smith,  Catalogue  of  the  Coins  in  the  Indian  Museum, 
Calcutta-,  also  Chronology  of  Andhra  Dynasty,  in  his  Early  History, 
p.  190. — E.  j.  Rapson,  Coins  of  the  Andhra  Dynasty,  the  Western 
Kshatrapas , etc.,  British  Museum.  See  also  Cunningham,  Book  of 
Indian  Eras-,  Duff,  The  Chronology  of  India  from  the  Earliest  Times  to 
the  Beginning  of  the  16th  Century.  ) 

53.  Semylla. — This  is  the  Symulla  of  Ptolemy,  the  Chimolo  of 
Yuan  Chwang,  the  Saimur  of  the  early  Mohammedan  travellers;  the 
modern  Chaul  (18°  34'  N.,  72°  55'  E.),  about  25  miles  south  of 
Bombay.  The  ancient  Hindu  name  was  Champavati,  and  was  con- 


201 


nected  with  the  reign  of  Krishna  in  Gujarat.  (See  McCrindle, 
Ancient  India,  161;  Imp.  Gaz.,  X,  184;  Muller,  I,  295.) 

53.  Mandagora. — This  is  probably  the  modern  Bankot  (17°  59 
N. , 73°  3'  E. ) at  the  mouth  of  the  Savitri  River.  The  port  is  closed 
during  the  S.  W.  monsoon.  It  is  now  a fishing  village  of  no  im- 
portance, but  in  former  times  it  was  a great  center  for  the  trade  in 
teak  and  blackwood,  and  for  shipbuilding.  (See  Imp.  Gaz.,  VI,  383; 
Muller,  I,  295.)  The  name  suggests  the  Sanscrit  Mandara-giri.  (In 
Ptolemy  the  positions  of  this  and  the  following  port  are  reversed. ) 

53.  Palaepatmae. — This  is  probably  the  modern  Dabhol  (17° 
35  N. , 73°  10’  E. ),  the  name  being  from  the  Sanscrit  Dabhileshwar, 
a name  of  Siva.  It  is  of  considerable  historical  importance,  being  the 
principal  port  of  the  South  Konkan.  From  the  14th  to  the  16th  cen- 
turies it  had  an  extensive  trade  with  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Red  Sea 
ports.  Here  is  the  underground  temple  of  Chandikabai,  dating  from 
the  6th  century.  ( Imp . Gaz.,  XI,  100.) 

The  name  Palapatma  is  probably  the  Sanscrit  Paripatana — the 
suffix  meaning  “town,”  while  Pari  was  a general  term  applying  to 
the  Western  Vindhya  mountains  and  the  coast  south  of  them.  (Nundo 
Lai  Dey,  Geographical  Dictionary  of  Ancient  and  Mediaval  India,  p.  68.) 

53.  Melizigara. — This  is  placed  by  Muller  and  McCrindle  at 
the  modern  Jaigarh  (17°  17"  N.,  72°  13'  E. ),  formerly  a port  of 
some  size,  but  now  little  more  than  a fishing-village.  It  is  not  im- 
possible that  it  may  be  the  modern  Rajapur  (16°  34*  N.,  73°  31'  E.), 
which  lies  at  the  head  of  a tidal  creek,  and  is  the  only  port  on  this 
Ratnagiri  coast  to  which  Arab  boats  still  trade  direct,  though  vessels 
of  any  size  cannot  approach  within  three  miles  of  the  old  stone  quay. 
(See  Imp.  Gaz.,  XIII,  379;  XXI,  66.) 

This  is  the  Sigerus  of  Pliny — the  Melizegyris  of  Ptolemy. 

The  name  seems  to  suggest  the  Sanscrit  Malaya-giri,  “Malaya 
hills,”  a name  which  covered  the  southern  part  of  the  Western  Ghats. 
The  same  name  appears  in  the  Male  of  Cosmas  and  our  Malabar. 

53.  Byzantium. — This  is  evidently  a corruption.  Lassen 
(III,  6)  assumes  it  to  have  been  a colony  of  Byzantine  Greeks,  but 
there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  of  the  existence  of  such  a colony. 
It  is  probably  the  modern  Vizadrog  (Sanscrit,  Vijayadurga;  16°  33' 
N. , 73°  20'  E. ),  described  as  being  one  of  the  best  harbors  on  the 
western  coast.  (Imp.  Gaz.,  XXIV,  310;  so  Vincent,  Muller  and 
McCrindle. ) 

53.  Togarum.— This  is  probably  the  modern  Devgarh  (16° 
23' N.,  73°  22'  E. ) described  as  “a  safe  and  beautiful  landlocked 


202 


harbor,  at  all  times  perfectly  smooth.  The  average  depth  of  water  is 
18  feet.  The  entrance,  only  3 cables  in  width,  lies  close  to  the  fort 
point.”  {Imp.  Gaz.,  XI,  275;  so  Vincent,  Muller  and  McCrindle. ) 

53.  Aurannoboas.— The  text  has  initial  T instead  of  A , no 
doubt  a corruption.  McCrindle  places  it  at  the  modern  Malvan  (16° 
3'  N.,  73°  28’  E. ).  It  is  a place  of  considerable  importance,  good 
iron  ore  being  found  in  the  neighborhood.  To  the  Marathas  an 
island  in  the  harbor  is  Sivajl’s  cenotaph,  and  his  image  is  worshipped 
in  the  chief  shrine.  (See  Imp.  Gaz.,  XVII,  96.) 

The  name  Malvan  is  a contraction  of  Maha-lavana,  ‘ ‘salt  marsh,  ” 
and  the  Greek  Aurannoboas  is  perhaps  intended  for  the  Sanscrit 
Aranya-vaha,  which  would  have  a similar  meaning. 

53.  Islands  of  the  Sesecrienae.— These  are  probably  the 
Vengurla  Rocks  (15°  53'  N.,  70°  IT  E.),  a group  of  rocky  islets 
some  3 miles  in  length  and  9 miles  out  from  the  modern  town  of 
Vengurla,  which  was  a port  of  considerable  importance  during  the 
Dutch  occupation  in  the  17th  century.  {Imp.  Gaz.,  XXIV,  307.) 

53.  Island  of  the  Aegidii. — This  is  perhaps  the  island  of 
Goa  (15°  20'  N.,  74°  0'  E. ),  the  present  Portuguese  possession.  It 
is  of  historical  importance,  having  been  settled  by  Aryans  at  an  early 
date,  and  appearing  in  the  Puranas.  {Imp.  Gaz.,  XII,  251;  so  Muller 
and  McCrindle.)  The  Imperial  Gazetteer,  following  Yule,  prefers  to 
identify  it  with  Anjidiv  (14°  45'  N. , 74°  10'  E.  );  but  the  location  is 
less  satisfactory  unless  we  assume  the  order  in  the  text  to  be  wrong, 
and  to  refer  to  the  grouping  of  this  and  the  following  island  on  either 
side  of  the  Karwar  point. 

53.  Island  of  the  Caenitae. — This  is  probably  the  Oyster 
Rocks  (14°  49'  N. , 74°  4'  E. ),  a cluster  of  islands  west  of,  and 
facing,  the  roadstead  of  Karwar. 

53.  Chersonesus. — Greek,  “peninsula.”  This  answers  for 
the  projecting  point  at  the  modern  Karwar  (14°  49'  N. , 74°  8'  E.), 
from  early  times  a trade  center  for  the  North  Kanara,  and  an  active 
port  as  late  as  the  16th  century,  exporting  fine  muslins  from  Hubli 
and  elsewhere  in  the  interior,  also  pepper,  cardamoms,  cassia,  and 
coarse  blue  dungari  cloth.  {Imp.  Gaz.,  XV,  65.) 

53.  Pirates.— Marco  Polo  (III,  xxv),  says  of  this  coast, 
“there  go  forth  every  year  more  than  a hundred  corsair  vessels  on 
cruise.  These  pirates  take  with  them  their  wives  and  children,  and 
stay  out  the  wThole  summer.  Their  method  is  to  join  in  fleets  of  20 
or  30  of  these  pirate  vessels  together,  and  then  they  form  what  they 
call  a sea  cordon,  that  is,  they  drop  off  till  there  is  an  interval  of  5 or  6 


203 


miles  between  ship  and  ship,  so  that  they  cover  something  like  a hun- 
dred miles  of  sea,  and  no  merchant  ship  can  escape  them.  For  when 
any  one  corsair  sights  a vessel  a signal  is  made  by  fire  or  smoke,  and 
then  the  whole  of  them  make  for  this,  and  seize  the  merchants  and 
plunder  them.  After  they  have  plundered  them  they  let  them  go, 
saying,  ‘Go  along  with  you  and  get  more  gain,  and  that  mayhap  will 
fall  to  us  also ! ’ But  now  the  merchants  are  aware  of  this,  and  go  so 
well  manned  and  armed,  and  with  such  great  ships,  that  they  don’t 
fear  the  corsairs.  Still  mishaps  do  befall  them  at  times.”  In  this 
same  vicinity.  Yule  observes,  Ibn  Batuta  fell  into  the  pirates’  hands, 
and  was  stripped  to  the  drawers.  The  northern  part  of  Malabar, 
Kanara,  and  the  Southern  Konkan,  were  a nest  of  pirates  from  a very 
ancient  date  until  well  into  the  19th  century,  when  their  occupation 
was  destroyed  by  the  British  arms. 

Marco  Polo  says  (III,  xxiv)  of  the  kingdom  of  Ely  (near 
Mangalore),  “if  any  ship  enters  their  estuary  and  anchors  there, 
having  been  bound  for  some  other  port,  they  seize  her  and  plunder 
the  cargo.  For  they  say,  ‘You  were  bound  for  somewhere  else,  and 
’tis  God  has  sent  you  hither  to  us,  so  we  have  right  to  all  your  goods.  ’ 
And  they  think  it  is  no  sin  to  act  thus.  And  this  naughty  custom 
prevails  all  over  the  provinces  of  India,  to  wit,  that  if  a ship  be  driven 
by  stress  of  weather  into  some  other  port  than  that  to  which  it  was 
bound,  it  was  sure  to  be  plundered.  But  if  a ship  came  bound 
originally  to  the  place  they  receive  it  with  all  honor  and  give  it  due 
protection.  ” 

In  1673,  Yule  notes,  Sivajl  replied  to  the  pleadings  of  an  Eng- 
lish embassy,  that  it  was  “against  the  laws  of  Conchon”  (Ptolemy’s 
Pirate  Coast!  ) “to  restore  any  ship  or  goods  that  were  driven  ashore.” 

Abd-er-Razzak  notes  the  same  practices  at  Calicut. 

53.  White  Island. — This  is  probably  the  modern  Pigeon 
Island  (14°  V N. , 74°  16‘  E. ),  also  known  as  Nitran.  It  lies  about 
10  miles  off  the  coast,  about  300  feet  high,  and  is  visible  for  25  miles. 
It  abounds  in  white  coral  and  lime.  {Imp.  Gaz,.,  XX,  136.) 

This  is  probably  the  same  as  the  Nitrias  of  Pliny  (VI,  26),  the 
stronghold  of  the  pirates,  who  threatened  the  Roman  merchants;  and 
may  be  the  Nitra  of  Ptolemy. 

53.  Naura  and  Tyndis,  the  first  markets  of  Damirica. 

It  seems  clear  that  a long  stretch  of  coast  on  either  side  of  the  modern 
Goa  was  given  a wide  berth  by  foreign  merchant-ships  because  of  the 
piratical  habits  of  its  people,  and  because  it  produced  no  cargo  of 
which  they  were  in  search. 

Like  the  following  ports,  Muziris  and  Nelcynda,  these  two  have 


204 


been  placed  too  far  north  by  most  of  the  commentators.  The  infer- 
ence from  the  few  words  in  the  Periplus  is  that  the  South  Konlcan 
and  Kanara  districts  were  those  more  particularly  infested  by  pirates. 
These  may  be  identified  with  the  Satiya  kingdom  of  Asoka’ s inscrip- 
tions. The  Tamil  ports,  strictly  speaking,  lay  within  the  region  where 
the  Malayalam  language  is  now  spoken,  that  is,  within  the  modern 
districts  of  Malabar,  Cochin,  and  Travancore.  TheTulu,  Kanarese 
and  Telugu  districts  seem  to  be  within  our  author’s  Dachinabadcs 
rather  than  his  Damirica.  These  four  ports  probably  lay  respectively 
within  the  four  districts  into  which  the  Portuguese  and  Dutch  found 
the  Kerala  kingdom  divided:  Cannanore,  Calicut,  Cochin  and  Tra- 
vancore; of  which  the  last-named,  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  was 
held  by  the  Pandya  kingdom. 

The  four  Tamil  states,  Chola,  Pandya,  Kerala,  and  Satiya,  are 
all  named  in  the  2d  Rock  Edict  of  Asoka.  (Vincent  Smith,  Asoka, 
p.  115).  Mr.  Smith  thinks  ( Early  History,  pp.  164,  340-1)  that 
Kerala  did  not  extend  north  of  the  Chandragiri  river  (12°  36’  N. ). 

Naura  being  then  in  North  Malabar,  may  be  identified  with  the 
modern  Cannanore  (11°  52’  N. , 75°  22'  E. ).  The  latter  place  is 
known  to  have  been  an  active  port  in  the  days  of  the  Roman  trade, 
and  has  yielded  one  of  the  most  important  finds  in  India  of  Roman 
coins,  of  the  reigns  of  Tiberius,  Claudius  and  Nero. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  identification  of  this  place  with  the  modern 
Honavar  (14°  17’  N. , 74°  2 T E. ),  while  a tempting  one,  owing  to 
the  similarity  of  names,  is  not  in  accord  with  the  facts.  Honavar  lies 
rather  within  the  strip  of  coast  which  was  in  dispute  between  the 
Andhra  and  Saka  dynasties,  as  well  as  the  petty  Maurya  and  Pallava 
princes;  while  from  similarity  of  name  the  modern  Cannanore  would 
answer  equally  well. 

The  location  of  Tyndis,  of  the  Chera  kingdom,  depends  on  that 
of  Muziris.  It  is  described  as  “a  village  in  plain  sight  on  the  shore,  ” 
and  may  be  identified  with  the  modern  Ponnani  (10°  48'  N. , 75°  56’ 
E. ).  This  place  lying  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  the  same  name, 
which  drains  a rich  section  of  the  western  mountains  known  as  the 
Anaimalai  Hills,  would  have  been  a natural  terminus  for  the  pepper 
produced  there,  as  well  as  for  the  beryls  of  the  Coimbatore  district. 
This  Ponnani  river,  according  to  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  (XX,  164), 
unlike  nearly  all  others  on  the  west  coast,  is  navigable  for  small  vessels 
for  some  distance  inland. 

Dr.  Burnell  prefers  Kadalundi  near  Beypore  (11°  11  N.,  75° 
4-9'  E. ) on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  of  the  same  name,  which  is 
also  navigable  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  and  carries  down  large 


205 


quantities  of  timber.  (Imp.  Gaz.,  VIII,  17.)  But  the  distance  of 
500  stadia  between  Tyndis  and  Muziris  indicates  Ponnani. 

53.  Damirica. — The  text  has  Limyrike , which  previous  editions 
have  retained.  That  name  does  not  appear  in  India,  or  in  other 
Roman  accounts  of  it,  and  it  is  clearly  a corruption  caused  by  the 
scribe’s  confusing  the  Greek  D and  L.  The  name  appears  in  its 
correct  form  in  the  Xllth  segment  of  the  Peutinger  Tables,  almost 
contemporary  with  the  Periplus,  and  in  Ptolemy  as  Dimirike-,  and 
there  seems  no  good  reason  for  perpetuating  the  mistake. 

Damirica  means  the  “country  of  the  Tamils,’’  that  is,  the  South- 
ern Dravidians  as  they  existed  in  the  first  century,  including  particu- 
larly the  Chera,  Pandya  and  Chola  kingdoms;  known  in  their  own 
records  as  Dravida-desam. 

53.  Muziris. — The  location  of  this  port  was  fixed  by  Burnell, 
Caldwell  and  Yule  at  Muyiri-kotta,  which  as  Kodungalur  or  Cranga- 
nore  (10°  14'  N. , 76°  11’  E. ),  was  an  important  port  in  mediaeval 
times.  Their  argument  was  based  on  the  7000  stadia  named  in  the 
text  as  the  distance  between  Barygaza  and  Damirica. 

Vincent  Smith  ( Early  History  340-1)  is  confident  that  Muziris  and 
Cranganore  are  the  same.  He  says  “The  Kingdom  of  Satiyaputra 
must  have  adjoined  Keralaputra;  and  since  the  Chandragiri  river  has 
always  been  regarded  as  the  northern  boundary  of  that  province,  the 
Satiyaputra  Kingdom  should  probably  be  identified  with  that  portion  of 
the  Konkans — or  lowlands  between  the  Western  Ghats  and  the  sea — 
where  the  Tulu  language  is  spoken,  and  of  which  Mangalore  is  the 
center.  The  name  of  Kerala  is  still  well  remembered  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  Kingdom  so  called  was  equivalent  to  the  Southern 
Konkans  or  Malabar  coast.  The  ancient  capital  was  Vanji,  also 
named  Karuvur,  the  Karoura  of  Ptolemy,  situated  close  to  Crangan- 
ore; which  represents  Muziris,  the  port  for  the  pepper  trade,  men- 
tioned by  Pliny  and  the  author  of  the  Periplus  at  the  end  of  the  first 
century  A.  D.”  Vanji,  accordingto  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  (XX,  21), 
must  be  placed  at  the  modern  Parur  or  Paravur  (10°  10’  N. , 76°  15’ 
E. ),  where  the  Periyar  River  empties  into  the  Cochin  back-waters. 
Parur  is  still  a busy  trading  center,  as  well  as  the  headquarters  of  the 
district.  While  now  in  the  district  of  Travancore,  it  formerly  belonged 
to  Cochin, — that  is,  to  Chera  or  Kerala.  It  is  said  to  comprise  almost 
all  the  Jews  in  Travancore;  and  the  settlement  may  date  from  the  end 
of  the  first  century,  when  it  is  known  that  there  was  a considerable 
Jewish  migration  to  Southern  India. 

The  earlier  identification  of  Muziris  and  Nelcynda  placed  them 
at  Mangalore  and  Nlleshwar  (12°  52’  N. , 74°  51'  E.,  and  12°  16' 


206 


Portion  of  the  Peutinger  Tables,  from  Justus  Perthes,  Atlas  Antiquus. 


207 


N. , 75°  8 E. ).  This  conflicts  with  nearly  all  that  we  know  of  the 
geography  and  politics  of  the  Tamil  kingdoms,  and  is  entirely  im- 
possible for  Nelcynda.  This  port,  according  to  the  Periplus,  belonged 
to  the  Pandyan  kingdom,  which  certainly  never  extended  so  far  north. 


— 1 2 Miles. 

The  Cochin  Backwaters:  from  Reclus,  Asia,  Vol.  III. 


208 


The  text  tells  us  that  Muziris  was  distant  from  Tyndis,  “by  river 
and  sea,  500  stadia,”  and  Neicynda  from  Muziris,  “by  river  and 
sea,  500  stadia.  ” This  can  hardly  refer  to  anything  but  the  Cochin 
backwaters. 

53.  Neicynda. — This  port  is  called  the  city  of  the  Neacyndi, 
by  Pliny;  Melkynda  by  Ptolemy;  Nincylda  by  the  Peutinger  Tables, 
Cyncilim  by  Friar  Odoric,  and  Nilcinna  by  the  Geographer  of  Ravenna. 
It  was  probably  in  the  backwaters,  or  thoroughfares,  behind  Cochin 
(9°  58'  N.,  70°  14'  E.  ),  the  exact  location  being  uncertain  because 
of  the  frequent  shifting  of  river-beds,  sand-bars  and  islands;  but  cer- 
tainly very  near  the  modern  Kottayam  (9°  36'  N. , 76°  31'  E. ),  which 
is  exactly  500  stadia,  or  50  miles,  from  Cranganore.  Kottayam, 
according  to  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  (XVI,  7),  is  a center  of  the 
Syrian  Christian  community,  whose  church  here  is  one  of  the  most 
ancient  on  the  west  coast.  It  is  also  the  natural  terminus  for  the  trade- 
routes  from  the  Plrmed  hills,  and  is  still  a trade-center  of  considerable 
importance. 

The  name  Neicynda,  Fabricius  thinks  (p.  160),  is  the  Sanscrit 
Nilakantha,  “blue  neck,”  a name  of  Siva.  Caldwell,  however,  pre- 
fers Melkynda,  which  he  translates  “Western  Kingdom.” 

A good  account  of  the  topography  of  the  coasts  of  India  is 
given  by  J.  A.  Bains  (Mill's  International  Geography,  1907  ed. , p. 
469).  “The  coast-line  is  singularly  devoid  of  indentations,  except  at 
the  mouths  of  the  larger  rivers  and  toward  the  northern  portion  of  the 
west  coast.  The  only  harbors  except  for  light-draft  vessels,  are  found 
a little  way  up  the  deltas  of  the  chief  rivers,  or  where,  as  at  Bombay, 
a group  of  islands  affords  adequate  shelter  from  the  open  sea.  The 
eastern  coast,  in  particular,  is  provided  with  little  more  than  a few 
imperfectly  protected  roadsteads.  The  southern  portion  of  the  west 
coast  is  distinguished  by  a series  of  back-waters,  or  lagoons,  parallel 
with  the  coast,  and  affording  a safe  and  convenient  waterway  for  small 
vessels  when  the  season  of  high  winds  makes  the  ocean  unnavigable.” 

54.  Cerobothra. — This  is  a transliteration  of  Cheraputra  or 
Keralaputra,  the  western  Tamil  kingdom,  which  in  its  greatest  exten- 
sion reached  from  Cape  Comorin  to  Karwar  Point,  nearly  7 degrees  of 
latitude.  At  the  time  of  the  Periplus  the  northern  part  had  separated, 
while  the  southern  end  had  passed  to  its  neighbor,  the  Pandyan  king- 
dom; leaving  Kerala  nearly  coterminous  with  modern  Malabar  and 
Cochin  districts.  The  capital  was  at  Karur,  or  Parur,  opposite 
Muziris  or  Cranganore. 

Cheraputra  is  “son  of  Chera,”  one  of  the  legendary  three 
brothers  who  founded  the  Dravidian  power  in  South  India. 


209 


Pliny’s  use  of  the  word  as  the  name  of  a king  was  incorrect;  it 
applies  to  the  country,  and  is  also  a dynastic  name  or  royal  title. 

The  Chera  backwaters  seem  to  be  referred  to  by  Pliny  in  a 
debated  passage  on  the  trade  of  Ceylon  with  the  1 ‘Seres”  (VI,  22): 
‘‘their  accounts  agreed  with  the  reports  of  our  own  merchants,  who 
tell  us  that  the  wares  which  they  deposit  near  those  brought  for  sale 
by  the  Seres,  on  the  further  bank  of  a river  in  their  country,  are 
removed  by  them  if  they  are  satisfied  with  the  exchange.” 

Here  Seres  must  be  read  as  meaning  Chera,  the  Ch  and  S’  being 
interchanged,  just  as  the  neighboring  Chola  kingdom  is  always  Soli  in 
Sinhalese  records. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  Chera  is  also  meant  by  Pliny’s  Seres  of 
XXXIV,  41,  who  sent  the  best  iron  to  Rome;  this  being  a product 
of  Haidarabad,  and  referred  to  in  § 6 of  the  Periplus,  as  shipped  from 
India  to  Adulis.  See  also  under  Sarapis,  p.  146. 

The  “silent  trade,  ” noted  by  Fa-Hien  in  Ceylon  itself,  is  referred 
to  under  § 65,  and  again  by  Pliny  (VI,  20),  Pausanias  (III,  xii,  3), 
and  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  (book  II). 

For  further  references  to  Chera  and  the  other  Tamil  states  growing 
out  of  the  original  establishment  at  Korkai,  see  Vincent  Smith,  Early 
History,  Chap,  xvi ; : — Caldwell,  Grammar  of  the  Dravidian  Languages, 
introduction;  also  History  of  Tinnevelly ; — Burnell,  South  Indian  Palaeog- 
raphy;— Shanguni  Menon,  History  of  Travancore ; Francis  Day,  The 
Land  of  the  Permauls; — J.  B.  Pandian,  Indian  Village  Folk; — Sir  Walter 
Elliot,  Coins  of  Southern  India ; — Foulkes,  The  Civilization  of  the  Dakhan 
down  to  the  6th  century  B.  C. , in  Indian  Antiquary,  1879,  pp.  1-10;  — 
K.  P.  Padmanabha  Menon,  Notes  on  Malabar  and  its  place-names , in 
Indian  Antiquary,  Aug.,  1902; — Wilson,  The  Pandyas,  in  Journal  of  the 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  iii,  199; — Dawson,  The  Cheras,  in  J.  R.  A.  S. , 
viii,  1; — Sewell,  Lists  of  Inscriptions,  and  Sketch  of  the  Dynasties  of 
Southern  India,  in  the  Archaeological  Survey,  Madras,  1884;  — F.  Kiel- 
horn,  Dates  of  Chola  and  Pandya  Kings,  in  Epigraphia  Indica,  Vols. 
IV-VIII,  inclusive; — Imperial  Gazetteer,  Vol.  II,  Chaps,  i,  iii,  iv,  v, 
ix ; — Biihler,  Indische  Palceographie,  and  generally,  his  Grundriss  der 
Indo-Arischcn  Philologie  und  A Itertumskunde ; — Fleet,  The  Dynasties  of  the 
Kanarese  Districts,  and  Bhandarkar,  Early  History  of  the  Dekkan,  in 
Gazetteer  of  the  Bombay  Presidency,  I,  ii; — Loventhal,  Coins  of  Tinnevelly ; 
— Hultzsch,  South  Indian  Inscriptions. 

54.  Abounds  in  ships. — In  these  protected  thoroughfares 
flourished  a sea-trade,  largely  in  native  Dravidian  craft,  which  was  of 
early  creation  and  of  great  influence  in  the  interchange  of  ideas  as 
well  as  commodities,  not  only  in  South  India,  but  in  the  Persian  Gulf, 


210 


Merchant-ship  of  the  2d  century,  from  a relief  on  a sarcophagus 
in  the  Lateran  Museum. 


and  the  coasts  of  Arabia  and  Africa,  with  which  the  trade  was  prin- 
cipally maintained.  Both  Buddhist  and  Brahman  writings  testify  to  its 
existence  in  the  5th  century  B.  C.  ; but  their  evidence  is  late,  as  they 
are  the  product  of  the  Northern  Aryans,  an  inland  race,  who  appeared 
in  South  India  after  its  activities  had  been  widely  developed.  Better 
evidence  is  given  by  the  Dravidian  alphabet,  supposed  to  be  from  a 
Semitic  (Himyaritic,  or  Phoenician)  original,  and  to  date  from  about 
1000  B.  C.,  whereas  the  Aryan,  or  KharosthI,  alphabet  was  formu- 
lated after  the  conquest,  about  500  B.  C.  (R.  Sewell,  Hindu  Period 
of  Southern  India , in  Imp.  Gaz. , II,  322.) 

“Sent  from  Arabia  and  by  the  Greeks”  were  the  ships  found  by 
our  author  in  the  Chera  backwaters.  The  text  has  Ariaca , but  the 
error  is  obvious,  as  the  articles  of  trade  were  from  foreign,  and  not 
Hindu,  sources.  “No  Aryan  language  had  penetrated  into  these 
kingdoms,  which  lived  their  own  life,  completely  secluded  from 
Northern  India,  and  in  touch  with  the  outer  world  only  through  the 
medium  of  maritime  commerce,  which  had  been  conducted  with 
safety  from  very  early  times.  The  pearls  of  the  Gulf  of  Manar,  the 
beryls  of  Coimbatore,  and  the  pepper  of  Malabar  were  not  to  be  had 
elsewhere,  and  were  largely  sought  by  foreign  merchants,  as  early  as 
the  7th  or  8th  century  B.  C.”  (Vincent  Smith,  Early  History,  334.) 


211 


Benjamin  of  Tudela,  in  the  12th  century,  gives  the  following 
account  of  trade  on  this  coast: 

‘‘Thence  is  seven  days’  journey  to  Khulam  (Quilon)  which  is 
the  beginning  of  the  country  of  the  Sun-worshippers.  These  are  the 
sons  of  Cush,  who  read  the  stars  and  are  all  black  in  color.  They 
are  honest  in  commerce.  When  merchants  come  to  them  from 
distant  lands  and  enter  the  harbour,  three  of  the  King’s  secretaries  go 
down  to  them  and  record  their  names  and  then  bring  them  before  the 
King,  whereupon  the  King  makes  himself  responsible  even  for  their 
property  which  they  leave  in  the  open  unprotected.  There  is  an 
official  who  sits  in  his  office,  and  the  owner  of  any  lost  property  has 
only  to  describe  it  to  him  when  he  hands  it  back.  This  custom  pre- 
vails in  all  that  country.  From  Passover  to  New  Year,  that  is  all 
during  the  summer,  no  man  can  go  out  of  his  house  because  of  the 
sun,  for  the  heat  in  that  country  is  intense,  and  from  the  third  hour 
of  the  day  onward,  everybody  remains  in  his  house  until  evening. 
Then  they  go  forth  and  kindle  lights  in  all  the  market  places  and  all 
the  streets,  and  then  do  their  work  and  business  at  night-time.  For 
they  have  to  turn  night  into  day  in  consequence  of  the  great  heat  of 
the  sun.  Pepper  is  found  there.  They  plant  the  trees  thereof  in  the 
fields,  and  each  man  of  the  city  knows  his  own  plantation.  The  trees 
are  small  and  the  pepper  is  as  white  as  snow.  And  when  they  have 
collected  it  they  place  it  in  sauce-pans  and  pour  boiling  water  over  it, 
so  that  it  may  become  strong.  Then  they  take  it  out  of  the  water  and 
dry  it  in  the  sun,  and  it  turns  black.  Cinnamon  and  ginger  and  many 
other  kinds  of  spices  are  found  in  this  land.” 

54.  Pandian  kingdom. — This  was  Pandya,  the  southernmost, 
and  traditionally  the  earliest,  of^the  three  Tamil  states.  Roughly  it 
coincided  with  the  modern  districts  of  Tinnevelly  and  Madura;  at 
the  time  of  the  Periplus  it  extended  beyound  the  Ghats  and  included 
Travancore.  The  capital,  originally  at  Korkai  (the  Colchi  of  § 59, 
which  see)  had  been  removed  to  Madura  (9°  55'  N. , 78°  T E. ). 

Here  too,  as  in  the  Chera  kingdom,  the  name  is  used  for  the 
country  and  as  a dynastic  title,  not  as  the  name  of  any  king. 

55.  Bacare. — (Ptolemy  gives  Barkare,  which  is  perhaps  the 
preferable  reading. ) This  place,  distant  120  stadia  from  Nelcynda, 
at  an  inlet  of  the  sea,  can  be  no  other  than  Porakad  (9°  22'  N. , 76° 
22'  E. ),  for  which  it  is  a close  transliteration;  while  the  distance 
from  Kottayam  is  exactly  in  accord  with  the  text. 

Porakad  was  once  a notable  port,  but  declined  with  the  rise  of 
Alleppey,  built  a few  miles  farther  north  after  a canal  had  been  cut 


212 


through  from  sea  to  backwater  and  harbor  works  constructed.  {Imp. 
Gtrz.,  XX,  188.)  The  Portuguese,  and  subsequently  the  Dutch, 
had  settlements  at  Porakad.  It  is  mentioned  by  Varthema  (1503) 
as  Porcai,  and  by  Tavernier  (1648)  as  Porca.  The  remains  of  a 
Portuguese  fort  and  factory  are  now  covered  by  the  sea,  being  visible 
at  low  water.  (Ball,  in  his  edition  of  Tavernier,  I,  241.) 

Here  also  is  the  mouth  of  the  Achenkoil  river,  which  rises  in  the 
Ghats  near  the  Shencottah  pass,  the  main  highway  between  Travan- 
core  and  Tinnevelly. 

According  to  Menon  {Notes  on  Malabar  and  its  place-names) , the 
settlements  were  nearly  all  east  of  the  backwaters  at  the  Christian  era, 
and  the  present  beaches  existed  only  as  tide-shoals.  During  the 
middle  ages  there  was  a period  of  elevation,  which  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  new  islands,  while  floods  from  the  mountains  changed  the 
courses  of  the  rivers,  and  the  location  of  the  inlets.  At  present  the 
tendency  is  toward  subsidence,  houses  built  at  Cochin  a century  ago 
being  now  under  water.  About  800  B.  C.,  according  to  local  tradi- 
tion, the  sea  reached  the  hills. 

Megasthenes,  in  the  4th  century  B.  C. , mentioned  as  <£on  the 
sea-coast”  the  town  of  Tropina  (Tripontari)  now  on  the  mainland 
side  of  the  backwaters;  Ptolemy’s  three  shore  towns  between  Muziris 
and  Barkare  are  likewise  on  the  land  side. 


56.  Large  ships. — The  increase  in  the  size  of  shipping  follow- 
ing the  discovery  of  Hippalus  is  referred  to  also  in  § 10.  Pliny  speaks 


213 


of  the  same  thing  in  describing  the  trade  between  Malabar  and  Ceylon. 
“The  navigation,  he  says  (VI,  24),  “was  formerly  confined  to 
vessels  made  of  rushes,  rigged  in  the  manner  familiar  on  the  Nile. 
The  vessels  of  recent  times  are  built  with  prows  at  either  end  so  that 
there  may  be  no  need  of  turning  around  while  sailing  in  these  chan- 
nels, which  are  extremely  narrow.  The  tonnage  of  the  vessels  is 
3,000  amphorae.”  (About  33  tons.) 

By  double  prows’  ’ Pliny  probably  means  some  such  build  and 
rig  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration,  which  is  typical  of  the 
Indian  Ocean  generally.  Mast  and  sail  can  be  reversed  at  will,  so 
that  the  craft  can  be  sailed  in  either  direction. 

5b.  Pepper,  black  and  white. — Piper  tiigrum,  Linn.,  order 
Piperacea.  A perennial  climber,  wild  in  the  forests  of  Travancore 
and  Malabar,  and  extensively  cultivated  from  very  early  times,  in  the 
hot,  damp  localities  of  Southern  India. 

Lassen  (I,  278),  notes  that  the  Greek  word  peperi,  Latin  piper , 
simply  repeats  the  Indian  name  pippali. 

The  antiquity  of  the  trade  in  pepper  is  not  so  easily  shown  as 
that  in  other  spices.  There  is  no  certain  mention  of  it  in  the  Egyptian 
inscriptions.  In  the  Hebrew  scriptures  it  is  unknown,  nor  has  it  a 
place  among  the  “mint  and  anise  and  cummin”  of  the  Gospels. 
Herodotus  has  no  bit  of  folklore  to  attach  to  it.  Theophrastus,  indeed, 
in  the  4th  century  B.  C.,  knows  it  as  a medicine,  and  Dioscorides 
distinguishes  between  black,  white  and  long  pepper.  The  Sanscrit 
writers  describe  it  as  a medicine  for  fever  and  dyspepsia,  used  together 
with  ginger  and  long  pepper;  these  were  their  “three  pungent  sub- 
stances. ” (Alahavagga,  VI,  19,  1;  see  also  I-tsing,  Record  of 
Buddhist  Practices  [7th  century  A.  D.],  chap,  xxviii;  Takakusu’s 
edition,  p.  135.)  The  Romans  had  it  after  their  conquests  in  Asia 
Minor,  Syria  and  Egypt,  and  at  once  provided  the  greatest  market 
for  it.  Egypt  knew  it,  probably,  through  the  sea-trade  of  the 
Ptolemies;  Syria  through  the  caravan-trade  to  Tyre  from  the  Persian 
Gulf.  There  is  some  reason  for  supposing  that  pepper  was  the 
spice  more  especially  in  demand  in  Babylonia  and  the  Persian  Gulf 
trade  generally,  just  as  cinnamon  was  that  more  especially  reserved 
for  Egypt;  and  that  the  most  active  demand  for  it  came  with  the 
extension  of  the  Persian  empire  under  Darius.  The  trade  was 
by  sea  and  not  overland;  Herodotus  knows  the  Dravidians  (III,  100) 
only  as  having  “a  complexion  closely  resembling  the  Aethiopians,'  * 
and  as  being  “situated  very  far  from  the  Persians,  toward  the  south, 
and  never  subject  to  Darius.”  It  may  also  be  surmised  that  a steady 
demand  for  pepper  existed  in  China  before  it  arose  in  Rome,  and. 


214 


that  this  was  one  reason  for  the  sailing  of  the  junks  to  the  Malabar 
coast  in  the  2d  century  B.  C.  and  probably  earlier.  In  Marco  Polo’s 
day  the  tonnage  of  the  junks  was  calculated  according  to  their  capacity 
in  baskets  of  pepper;  and  he  found  (II,  Ixxxii)  “for  one  shipload  of 
pepper  that  goes  to  Alexandria  or  elsewhere,  destined  for  Christen- 
dom, there  come  a hundred  such,  aye  and  more  too,  to  this  haven  of 
Zayton”  (Chwan-chau,  above  Amoy ). 

The  trade  in  pepper  in  the  time  of  the  Roman  Empire  brought 
the  merchants  unheard-of  profits  just  as  it  did  later  the  Genoese  and 
Venetians.  It  was  one  of  the  most  important  articles  of  commerce 
between  India  and  Rome,  supplying  perhaps  three-quarters  of  the 
total  bulk  of  the  average  westbound  cargo. 

The  constant  use  of  pepper  in  the  most  expensive  Roman  cookery 
is  reflected  by  its  price,  quoted  by  Pliny  (XII,  14)  as  15  denarii,  or 
about  $2.  55  per  lb. 

Among  the  offerings  by  the  emperor  Constantine  to  the  church 
under  St.  Silvester,  were  costly  vessels  and  fragrant  gums  and  spices, 
including  frankincense,  nard,  balsam,  storax,  myrrh,  cinnamon,  saffron 
and  pepper. 

That  it  continued  in  high  esteem  is  shown  by  the  terms  offered 
by  Alaric  for  raising  the  siege  of  Rome:  “the  immediate  payment  of 

5.000  lbs.  of  gold,  of  30,000  lbs.  of  silver,  of  4,000  robes  of  silk,  of 

3.000  pcs.  of  fine  scarlet  cloth,  and  of  3,000  lbs.  weight  of  pepper.” 
(Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall , III,  271-2.  ) 

Pliny,  indeed,  expresses  surprise  at  the  taste  that  brought  it  into 
so  great  favor  (XII,  14)  : ‘ ‘It  is  quite  surprising  that  the  use  of  pepper 
has  come  so  much  into  fashion,  seeing  that  in  other  substances  which 
we  use,  it  is  sometimes  their  sweetness,  and  sometimes  their  appear- 
ance that  has  attracted  our  notice;  whereas,  pepper  has  nothing  in  it 
that  can  plead  as  a recommendation  to  either  fruit  or  berry,  its  only 
desirable  quality  being  a certain  pungency;  and  yet  it  is  for  this  that 
we  import  it  all  the  way  from  India!  Who  was  the  first  to  make 
trial  of  it  as  an  article  of  food?  And  who,  I wonder,  was  the  man 
that  was  not  content  to  prepare  himself  by  hunger  only  for  the  satis- 
fying of  a greedy  appetite?” 

In  mediaeval  Europe  the  trade  was  highly  organized,  the  spice 
being  handled  especially  by  merchants  called  “pepperers;”  and  the 
prices  quoted  in  Rogers’  History  of  Agriculture  and  Prices  in  England 
show  that  in  the  years  just  prior  to  the  Portuguese  discovery  of  the 
Cape  route,  a pound  of  pepper  brought  two  shillings,  being  four  days’ 
pay  for  a carpenter!  Yet  the  people  preferred  it  above  all  other 


215 


spices;  it  was  the  first  thing  asked  for  by  “Glutton”  in  Piers  Plowman 
(V,  310-13): 

“I  haue  gode  ale,  gossib,”  quod  she'  “glotown,  wiltow  assaye?” 

“Hastow  aughte  in  thi  purs'  any  hote  spices?” 

“I  haue  peper  and  piones,”  quod  she'  “and  a pounde  of  garlike, 
A ferthyngworth  of  fenel-seed'  for  fastyngdayes.  ’ ’ 

Friar  Odoric  (Chap,  iii)  describes  the  pepper  production  of 
“Minibar”  as  follows:  “the  wood  in  which  it  grows  containeth  in 
circuit  eighteen  days’  journey.  And  in  the  said  wood  or  forest  there 
are  two  cities,  one  called  Flandrina,  and  the  other  Cyncilim”  (prob- 
ably Nelcynda).  “In  the  aforesaid  wood  pepper  is  had  after  this 
manner:  first  it  groweth  in  leaves  like  unto  pot-herbs,  which  they 
plant  near  unto  great  trees  as  we  do  our  vines,  and  they  bring  forth 
pepper  in  clusters,  as  our  vines  do  yield  grapes,  but  being  ripe,  they 
are  of  a green  color,  and  are  gathered  as  we  gather  grapes,  and  then 
the  grains  are  laid  in  the  sun  to  be  dried,  and  being  dried  are  put  into 
earthen  vessels;  and  thus  is  pepper  made  and  kept.  . . At  the  south 
end  of  the  said  forests  stands  the  city  of  Polumbrum,  which  aboundeth 
with  merchandise  of  all  kinds.”  (The  proper  form  would  be  Polum- 
bum,  the  Latinized  version  of  Polum  or  Kolum,  the  modern  Quilon. 
P and  K are  interchanged  here  as  in  the  case  of  Karur,  the  modern 
Parur. ) 

Tavernier  found  pepper  sold  principally  at  Tuticorin  and  Calicut. 
Some,  however,  came  from  Rajapur  on  the  Ratnagiri  coast.  “The 
Dutch,”  he  says  (II,  xii.  Ball’s  ed. ),  “who  purchase  it  from  the 
Malabaris  do  not  pay  in  cash  for  it,  but  exchange  for  it  many  kinds  of 
merchandise,  as  cotton,  opium,  vermilion,  and  quicksilver,  and  it  is 
this  pepper  which  is  exported  to  Europe.  . . . 500  livres  of  it  brings 
only  38  reals,  but  on  the  merchandise  which  they  give  in  exchange 
they  gain  100  per  cent.  . One  can  get  it  for  the  equivalent  in  money 
of  28  or  30  reals  cash,  but  to  purchase  it  in  that  way  would  be  much 
more  costly  than  the  Dutch  method.’’ 

He  mentions  also  (I,  xvi)  a large  storehouse  kept  by  the  Portu- 
guese at  Cochin,  called  the  “Pepper  House.” 

See  also  Watt,  896-901; — Fluckiger  and  Hanbury,  Pharmaco- 
graphia,  p.  579; — Encyclopedia  Britannica,  article  “Pepper;’’ — Bran- 
dis, Indian  Trees-, — Vignoli,  Liber  Pontijicalis,  Rome,  1724-55. 

Odoric  also  describes  a propitiation  of  the  serpents  guarding  the 
pepper,  similar  to  those  of  the  frankincense  and  diamond;  the  story 
is  better  in  the  version  of  “Sir  John  Mandeville”  (Chap,  xviii)  : “In 
that  country  be  many  manner  of  serpents  and  of  other  vermin  for  the 
great  heat  of  the  country  and  of  the  pepper.  And  some  men  say. 


216 


that  when  they  will  gather  the  pepper,  they  make  fire,  to  burn  about 
to  make  the  serpents  and  the  cockodrills  to  flee.  But  save  their  grace 
of  all  that  say  so.  For  if  they  burnt  about  the  trees  that  bear,  the 
pepper  should  be  burnt,  and  it  would  dry  up  all  the  virtue,  as  of  any 
other  thing;  and  then  they  did  themselves  much  harm,  and  they 
should  never  quench  the  fire.  But  thus  they  do:  they  anoint  their 
hands  and  their  feet  with  a juice  made  of  snails  and  of  other  things 
made  therefor,  of  the  which  the  serpents  and  the  venomous  beasts 
hate  and  dread  the  savour;  and  that  maketh  them  flee  before  them, 
because  of  the  smell,  and  then  they  gather  it  surely  enough.” 

This  belief  in  the  guarding  of  treasure,  or  of  wealth-producing 
trees,  or  the  habitation  thereof,  by  spirits  in  the  form  of  serpents,  has 
already  been  noted  as  attaching  to  frankincense  (§  29),  and  will 
appear  likewise  with  the  diamond  (§  56).  The  supposed  necessity 
of  appeasing  or  else  expelling  the  serpents  by  the  use  of  other  sub- 
stances was  held  strongly  in  Rome  itself.  Pliny  ascribes  this  power 
to  galbanum,  “a  kind  of  giant  fennel”  (XII,  56).  ‘‘If  ignited  in  a 
pure  state  it  has  the  property  of  driving  away  serpents  by  its  smoke.” 
And  again  (XXIV,  13),  “the  very  touch  of  it,  mingled  with  oil  and 
spondylium,  is  sufficient  to  kill  a serpent.”  So  also  Virgil  ( Georgies , 

III,  415): 

“Galbaneoque  agitare  graves  nidore  chelydros.  ” 

The  frankincense  gatherers  depended  on  burning  storax;  see 
under  § 29,  pp.  131-2. 

56.  Malabathrum. — Heeren,  Vincent  and  McCrindle  trans- 
late this  “betel,”  and  thereby  accuse  the  Periplus  of  a blunder  in 
§§  63  and  65,  where  the  substance  is  described  as  coming  from  the 
Himalaya  mountains.  The  translation  rests  on  an  assumption  that 
the  petros  of  the  text  in  § 65  is  the  same  as  the  Portuguese  betre  or 
betle  meaning  betel. 

Watt  (p.  891).  says  this  latter  is  rather  derived  from  a Malay 
word  vettila  or  vern-ila,  meaning  “leaf,  ” and  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the 
betel  of  modern  times  entered  into  international  commerce  in  the 
Roman  period. 

The  word  petros  is  rather  from  the  Sanscrit  patra,  “leaf,”  of 
the  tamala  tree  which,  as  explained  under  §§  10,  13  and  14,  is  a 
variety  of  cinnamon  or  laurel.  The  leaf  exported  from  Southern 
India  was  also  from  Cinnamomum  iners,  and  possibly  from  the  Cinna- 
momum  ■zeylanicum  which  in  later  times  was  cultivated  in  Ceylon  and 
is  one  of  the  sources  of  our  cinnamon.  (See  Tavernier,  Travels , 
II,  xii).  The  leaf  coming  from  the  Himalaya  mountains  was  prin- 
cipally from  the  Cinnamomum  tamala , which  was  native  there.  Pliny 


217 


says  that  the  malabathrum  which  entered  so  prominently  into  Roman 
perfumes  should  have  a smell  like  nard,  and  other  Roman  writers 
seem  to  have  confused  it  with  the  Ganges  nard  mentioned  in  § 63. 
(See  also  Lassen,  I,  279-285;  II,  555-561.) 

Horace,  (II,  vii,  89),  refers  to  it  as  follows: 

“Coronatus  nitentes 

Malobathro  Syrio  capillos.  ” 

Malabathrum  and  spikenard  were  the  two  most  treasured  ingre- 
dients of  the  ointments  and  perfumes  of  the  Roman  empire. 

A curious  trade  condition  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that  the  Ro- 
mans knew  cinnamon  and  cassia  only  as  coming  from  the  Somali 
coast  of  Africa,  while  they  knew  the  malabathrum  as  coming  from 
various  parts  of  India;  and  yet  the  malabathrum  was,  in  at  least  one 
case,  the  leaf  from  the  same  tree  that  produced  a variety  of  cinnamon. 
The  Periplus  in  no  place  mentions  the  export  of  cinnamon  from 
India,  but  in  §§  56  and  63  describes  the  export  of  malabathrum.  This 
seems  to  indicate  a trade  monopoly  of  very  ancient  date  and  thorough 
enforcement,  by  which  the  bark  only  went  for  trade  purposes  to  the 
African  coast,  while  the  leaf  was  an  open  article  of  trade  to  India. 

Lindsay  ( History  of  Alerchant  Shipping  and  Ancient  Commerce , I, 
156-7),  also  remarks  on  this  “striking  instance  of  the  secrecy  with 
which  the  ancients  conducted  the  more  valuable  portions  of  their 
trade.’’  Herodotus,  he  thinks,  “could  only  have  obtained  his  infor- 
mation about  cinnamon  from  the  merchants  who  traded  along  the 
shores  of  Malabar  . . . who  kept  the  secret  of  its  provenance  as  the 
Carthaginians  kept  that  of  British  tin." 

Another  letter  from  Mr.  R.  E.  Drake-Brockman,  dated  Berbera, 
April  27,  1910,  gives  further  confirmation  of  the  absence  of  the  cin- 
namon species  from  the  Somali  peninsula.  (See  under  § 13,  p.  87). 

“It  is  unlikely  that  the  original  inhabitants  of  this  country  knew 
anything  of  cinnamon  until  they  had  heard  of  its  commercial  value 
from  the  natives  of  India  or  Arabs,  who  have  been  known  to  the 
coastal  people  from  the  earliest  times.  These  same  traders,  if  they 
penetrated  into  the  interior  at  all,  which  is  extremely  doubtful,  would 
have  hunted  for  anything  of  any  commercial  value,  and  if  cinnamon 
had  existed  they  would  have  continued  to  export  it  up  to  the  present 
day  as  they  do  frankincense,  myrrh  and  gum  arabic.  A point  which 
is  worthy  of  notice  is  that  the  Somalis  have  names  for  all  the  last  three, 
whereas  they  have  had  to  go  to  the  Arabic  language  for  their  names 
for  cinnamon.  They  know  of  two  varieties,  koronfol  and  karfa , both 
of  which  are  imported. 

“It  is  highly  probable  that  both  Strabo  and  Pliny  were  led  to 


218 


believe  that  the  myrrh,  frankincense,  cinnamon  and  spices  pouring 
into  the  kingdom  of  Aethiopia  and  upper  Egypt  all  came  from  the 
same  place.  Possibly  traders  in  Aethiopia  obtained  a better  price  for 
their  myrrh  and  cinnamon  if  they  stated  the  difficulties  and  dangers 
they  experienced  collecting  it  in  the  countries  of  the  savage  Gallas 
or  their  antecedents  in  the  Horn  of  Africa. 

“There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  natives  of  these  regions  have 
always  been  greatly  feared  by  their  less  warlike  neighbors.  The 
Somalis  and  their  antecedents  have  always  been  keen  traders,  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  if  cinnamon  ever  existed  in  these  regions, 
the  practice  of  collecting  it  would  not  have  been  dropped  unless  the 
species  here  collected  was  of  a very  inferior  quality  and  gradually  lost 
its  marketable  value.” 


T hrough  the  courtesy  of  the  same  gentleman  in  gathering  speci- 
mens of  the  various  aromatic  gums  of  Somaliland,  a more  positive 
statement  may  be  made  than  was  possible  under  § 32,  pp.  141-2, 
concerning  the  Egyptian  frankincense  trade,  in  determining  the 
character  of  the  trees  depicted  on  the  Punt  reliefs  at  Deir  el  Bahri,  a 
photograph  of  which  was  reproduced  on  page  120. 

Professor  Breasted  in  his  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt  (II,  263-5), 
calls  this  tree  myrrh,  and  translates  it  as  myrrh  wherever  the  records 
refer  to  it.  In  the  publications  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Fund  (The 
Temple  of  Deir-el-Bahri,  III,  12),  it  is  called  frankincense , but  is  located 
in  Somaliland  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mosyllum,  because  of  the  sup- 
posed African  appearance  of  the  Punt  people  who  appear  elsewhere 
in  the  reliefs. 

Specimens  of  true  myrrh  sent  from  Somaliland  show  clearly  that 
no  sculptor  could  have  intended  to  depict  by  the  rich  foliage  on  the 
reliefs,  the  bare,  thorny,  trifoliate  but  almost  leafless  myrrh  tree,  nor 
yet  the  almost  equally  leafless  varieties  of  Somaliland  frankincense. 
This  tree  is  clearly  Boswellia  Carteri,  the  frankincense  of  the  rich  plain 
of  Dhofar  in  Southern  Arabia.  This  is  the  only  place  producing 
frankincense  where  the  trees  can  be  cultivated  on  a fertile  plain  by  the 
shore,  in  the  midst  of  green  fields  and  cattle.  There  is  no  place  on 
the  African  coast  which  meets  these  conditions.  Naville’s  objection 
that  the  natives  are  “not  Arabs,”  i.  e.,  not  Semitic,  is  really  in  favor 
of  such  a belief ; they  were  the  pre-Semitic,  Cushite  race  whose  domin- 
ions centered  at  Dhofar,  and  who  are  represented  there  by  the  modern 
Gara  tribe.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  trees  in  that  relief  are 
the  frankincense  of  Dhofar,  the  “Sachalitic  frankincense”  of  the 
Periplus,  the  modern  Shehri  luban. 


219 


To  the  possible  objection  that  the  Darror  and  Nogal  valleys,  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  Somali  peninsula,  are  fertile  and  might  pro- 
duce a better  foliage  than  the  northern  coast,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
fertility  stops  far  short  of  the  east  coast,  which  is  absolutely  desert; 
whereas  the  reliefs  show  a rich  and  fertile  plain  bordering  the  sea. 

56.  A great  quantity  of  coin. — The  drain  of  specie  from 
Rome  to  the  East  has  already  been  referred  to  under  § 49,  and  is 
bitterly  condemned  by  Pliny.  “The  subject, ” he  says  (VI,  26),  “is 
one  well  worthy  of  our  notice,  seeing  that  in  no  year  does  India  drain 
usoflessthan  550,000, 000  sesterces  ($22,000,000)  giving  back  her  own 
wares,  which  are  sold  among  us  at  fully  100  times  their  first  cost.” 

A generation  before  the  Periplus,  in  22  A.  D.,  this  was  made 
the  subject  of  a letter  from  the  emperor  Tiberius  to  the  Roman  Senate: 

“If  a reform  is  in  truth  intended,  where  must  it  begin?  and  how 
am  I to  restore  the  simplicity  of  ancient  times?  . . . How  shall  we 
reform  the  taste  for  dress?  . . . How  are  we  to  deal  with  the  peculiar 
articles  of  feminine  vanity,  and  in  particular  with  that  rage  for  jewels 
and  precious  trinkets,  which  drains  the  empire  of  its  wealth,  and  sends, 
in  exchange  for  baubles,  the  money  of  the  Commonwealth  to  foreign 
nations,  and  even  to  the  enemies  of  Rome?”  (Tacitus,  Annals, 
iii,  53.) 

This  extravagant  importation  of  luxuries  from  the  East  without 
adequate  production  of  commodities  to  offer  in  exchange,  was  the 
main  cause  of  the  successive  depreciation  and  degradation  of  the 
Roman  currency,  leading  finally  to  its  total  repudiation.  The  mone- 
tary standard  of  Rome  was  established  by  accumulations  of  precious 
metal  resulting  from  its  wars.  The  sack  of  the  rich  city  of  Tarentum 
in  272  B.  C.,  enabled  Rome  to  change  her  coinage  from  copper  to 
silver.  After  the  destruction  of  Carthage  and  Corinth  in  146  B.  C., 
gold  coinage  came  into  general  use,  and  through  the  wars  of  Caesar 
gold  became  so  plentiful  that  in  47  B.  C.  its  ratio  to  silver  was  as  1 to 
8.9,  lower  than  ever  before  or  since.  Under  Augustus  the  ratio  was 
about  1 to  9.3,  the  aureus  being  worth  25  silver  denarii.  Under 
Claudius  the  sea-route  to  India  was  opened,  after  which  came  the 
reign  of  Nero,  marked  by  every  form  of  wastefulness  and  extrava- 
gance, during  which  the  silver  denarius  fell  from  1-84  to  1-96  pound 
of  silver,  an  alloy  of  20  per  cent  copper  being  added  to  it.  Under 
Trajan  the  alloy  reached  30  per  cent,  and  under  Septimius  Severus 
50  per  cent.  Finally,  under  Elagabalus,  218  A.  D.,  the  denarius  had 
become  wholly  copper  and  was  repudiated.  Even  the  golden  aureus 
was  tampered  with.  Exported  in  large  quantities  to  become  the  basis 
of  exchange  in  India,  the  supply  at  home  was  exhausted.  Under 


220 


Augustus  the  aureus  weighed  1-40  of  a pound  of  gold,  and  under 
Diocletian  it  weighed  but  1-60.  Under  Constantine  it  fell  to  1-72, 
when  the  coin  was  taken  only  by  weight  (Sabatier,  Monnaies  Byzan- 
tines, i,  51-2;  Brooks  Adams,  Law  of  Civilization  and  Decay,  25-8). 
It  was  this  steady  loss  of  capital,  to  replace  which  no  new  wealth  w'as 
produced,  that  led  finally  to  the  abandonment  of  Rome  and  to  the 
transfer  of  the  capital  at  the  end  of  the  3d  century  to  Nicomedia  and 
soon  afterward  to  Byzantium. 


Coin  of  Nero  commemorating  the  opening  of  the  harbor-works  at  Ostia. 

In  the  Madras  Government  Museum  there  is  nearly  a complete 
series  of  the  coins  of  the  Roman  Emperors  during  the  period  of 
active  trade  with  India,  all  of  them  excavated  in  southern  India.  A 
notable  fact  is  that  there  are  two  distinct  breaks  in  the  series;  which 
may  of  course  be  supplied  by  later  discovery,  but  which  seem  to  indi- 
cate a cessation  of  trade  due  to  political  turmoil  in  Rome.  The  coins 
of  Tiberius,  Caligula,  Claudius  and  Nero  are  numerous.  There  are 
very  few  of  Vespasian  and  Titus  anywhere  in  India.  Those  of 
Domitiap,  Nerva,  Trajan  and  Hadrian  are  frequent;  then  there 
comes  another  break  lasting  until  the  time  of  Commodus.  This  indi- 
cation, so  far  as  it  has  any  value,  points  again  to  the  dating  of  the 
Periplus  during  the  reign  of  Nero  rather  than  during  those  of  Ves- 
pasian and  Titus. 

For  a full  account  of  Roman  coins  discovered  in  South  India, 
see  E.  Thurston,  Catalogue  No.  2,  Madras  Government  Museum, 
pp.  1-47. 

56.  Crude  glass. — The  origin  of  the  glass  industry  in  India  is 
uncertain.  According  to  Mitra,  Antiquities  of  Orissa,  I,  101,  it  was 
made  in  Ceylon  in  the  3d  century  B.  C.,  and  Pliny  (XXXVI,  66) 
refers  to  the  glass  of  India  as  superior  to  all  others,  because  ‘made  of 
pounded  crystal.”  Mirrors,  with  a foil  of  lead  and  tin,  were  largely 
used  there  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  and  Pliny  indicates  (XXXVII, 


221 


20)  that  “the  people  of  India,  by  coloring  crystal,  have  found  a 
method  of  imitating  various  precious  stones,  beryls  in  particular.  ’ ’ An 
early  play,  the  Mrichchhakatika  or  Little  Clay  Cart , gives  a scene  in  a 
court  of  justice  to  this  effect  (Mitra,  op.  cit.,  100;  see  also  A.  W. 
Ryder’s  translation,  Cambridge,  1905): 

“Do  you  know  these  ornaments?” 

“Have  I not  said?  They  may  be  different,  though  like;  I can- 
not say  more;  they  may  be  imitations  by  some  skillful  artist.” 

“It  is  true;  provost,  examine  them;  they  may  be  different, 
though  like;  the  dexterity  of  the  artists  is  no  doubt  very  great,  and 
they  readily  fabricate  imitations  of  ornaments  they  have  once  seen,  in 
such  a manner  that  the  difference  shall  scarcely  be  discernible. 

56.  Copper,  tin,  and  lead.— As  at  Barygaza,  intended  chieffy 
for  the  coinage.  So  Pliny  (XXXIV,  17):  “India  has  neither  brass 
nor  lead,  but  exchanges  precious  stones  and  pearls  for  them.  ” The 
Indian  coins  were  of  lead,  slightly  alloyed  with  either  copper  or  tin. 
(Sir  Walter  Elliot,  Coins  of  Southern  India , p.  22.) 

Lead  was  used  also,  mixed  with  a little  tin  in  thin  sheets,  as  a foil 
for  the  manufacture  of  mirrors.  (Mitra,  op.  cit.,  p.  101.) 

56.  Orpiment. — This  is  the  yellow  sulphide  of  arsenic,  appear- 
ing in  the  form  of  smooth  shining  scales,  which  have  long  been  an 
article  of  export  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  India. 

Pliny  (VI,  26)  says,  “Next  to  these  is  the  nation  of  the  Ori  and 
then  the  Hyctanis  (Rud  Shur?)  a river  of  Carmania,  with  an  excellent 
harbor  at  its  mouth,  and  producing  gold;  at  this  spot  the  writers  state 
that  for  the  first  time  they  caught  sight  of  the  Great  Bear.  The  star 
Arcturus  too,  they  tell  us,  was  not  to  be  seen  here  every  night,  and 
never  when  it  was  seen,  during  the  whole  of  it.  Up  to  this  spot 
extended  the  empire  of  the  Achaemenidae,  and  in  these  districts  are  to 
be  found  mines  of  copper,  iron,  arsenic,  and  red  lead.” 

The  principal  use  of  orpiment  was  as  a yellow  pigment — auri pig- 
mentum — making  a durable  mineral  paint,  as  did  realgar  and  lapis  lazuli. 

56.  Wheat  for  the  sailors. — Marco  Polo  also  notes  (III, 
xvii),  “No  wheat  grows  in  this  province,  but  rice  only.” 

56.  Cottonara.  Dr.  Burnell  derives  this  from  Kolatta-naclu , 
which  he  identifies  with  North  Malabar,  of  which  Cannanore  and 
Tellicherry  are  the  centers.  Dr.  Buchanan  prefers  Kadatta-nadu, 
South  Malabar,  on  either  side  of  Calicut.  In  mediaeval  times  the 
domain  of  the  Rajas  of  Kolatnad  included  both.  Bishop  Caldwell,  in 
his  Dravidian  Grammar , derives  the  name  from  Malayalam  kadatta, 
transport  or  conveyance,  and  nadu,  district.  Menon  ( Indian  An- 
tiquary, Aug.  1902 J,  suggests  kadal , sea,  or  kodu,  mountain;  and 


222 


kodu-nadu,  the  hill-country  back  of  the  sea-coast,  would  accord  with 
the  facts  while  supporting  the  transliteration  of  the  text.  In  any  case 
the  term  does  not  seem  to  have  been  applied  to  an  exact  locality. 

56.  Great  quantities  of  fine  pearls. — These  were  from  the 
fisheries  of  the  Gulf  of  Manar,  mentioned  in  § 59,  and  brought  to  be 
sold  in  the  Chera  ports,  the  meeting-point  of  Eastern  and  Western 
trade. 

56.  Silk  cloth. — From  China,  by  way  of  Tibet  and  the 
Ganges.  See  under  §§  39,  49  and  64. 

56.  Gangetic  spikenard. — See  under  § 63. 

56.  Transparent  stones. — These  were  principally  the  beryls 
of  the  Coimbatore  district,  for  which  there  was  a constant  demand  in 
Rome,  and  which  always  found  their  principal  foreign  market  in  the 
Malabar  ports.  This  localization  of  the  gem  trade  continued  until 
after  the  Portuguese  period  in  India;  the  reason  is  stated  by  Tavernier 
(II,  xxi)  : 

“Goa  was  formerly  the  place  where  there  was  the  largest  trade 
in  all  Asia  in  diamonds,  rubies,  sapphires,  topazes,  and  other  stones. 
All  the  miners  and  merchants  went  there  to  sell  the  best  which  they 
had  obtained  at  the  mines,  because  they  had  there  full  liberty  to  sell, 
whereas,  in  their  own  country,  if  they  showed  anything  to  the  kings 
and  princes,  they  were  compelled  to  sell  at  whatever  price  they  pleased 
to  fix.  There  was  also  at  Goa  a large  trade  in  pearls,  both  of  those 
which  came  from  the  island  of  Bahrein  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  those 
fished  for  in  the  Straits  of  Manar  on  the  coast  of  the  island  of  Ceylon.” 

India  and  Ceylon  were  preeminently  the  source  of  production  of 
precious  stones  of  all  kinds,  which  were  exported  to  every  part  of  the 
civilized  world.  Watt  (p.  556)  classifies  the  production  as  follows: 

1.  The  Beryl  group,  from  the  sea-green  aquamarine  to  the 

white.  (The  beryllium  of  Pliny,  XXXVII,  20.) 

2.  Diamond.  (The  adamas  of  Pliny,  XXXVII,  15.) 

3.  Pearl. 

4.  Ruby.  (The  carbunculus  of  Pliny,  XXXVII,  25.) 

5.  Sapphire,  occurring  in  numerous  colors,  various  blues,  violet, 

yellow,  green  and  white.  Produced  mainly  on  the  Southern 

Malabar  hills,  now  rarely  found  in  India  but  more  frequently 

in  Ceylon.  (The  hyacinthus  of  Pliny,  XXXVII,  41.) 

6.  Spinel.  (Included  among  the  12  varieties  of  Pliny’s  carbun- 

culus. ) 

7.  Topaz.  Watt  doubts  its  production  in  India  at  any  place, 

and  the  Periplus  shows  on  the  contrary  that  it  was  imported 


223 


from  the  Red  Sea.  (The  chrysodthos  of  Pliny,  XXXVII, 
42.) 

8.  Turquoise.  A product  of  Persia,  not  occurring  in  India  but 

reaching  the  northwestern  ports  of  trade.  (The  callaina  of 
Pliny,  XXXVII,  33.) 

9.  Garnet.  Common  in  many  parts  of  India;  those  of  Rajpu- 

tana  being  the  best.  (One  of  the  12  varieties,  perhaps  the 
alabandic , of  Pliny’ s carbunculus.  ) 

10.  Jade  and  Jadeite;  found  mainly  in  Turkestan  but  also  in 

upper  Burma,  while  a serpentine  from  Afghanistan  is  often 
substituted.  While  not  produced  in  India,  these  all  find 
their  way  to  Indian  markets.  The  leading  market  is  China. 

11.  Lapis  Lazuli,  or  ultramarine;  also  from  Persia.  Largely 

used  for  decoration  of  all  kinds  and  in  demand  in  India, 
Egypt  and  the  Mediterranean  world  from  the  earliest  times. 
(The  sapphires  of  Pliny,  XXXVII,  39.) 

12.  Quartzose,  including 

a.  Rock  crystals,  white  and  colored,  which  the  Romans  do 

not  seem  to  have  distinguished  from  more  precious 
stones.  (The  crystal  of  Pliny,  XXXVII,  9-10.  ) 

b.  Agate,  carnelian,  bloodstone,  chrysoprase,  jasper,  chal- 

cedony, cat’s  eye,  onyx,  opal,  etc.  ( Achates , murrhine; 
sarda;  heliotropium ; c/irysoprasus ; laspis,  carchedonia ; sar- 
donyx; astrobolos;  onyx;  opal  (Pliny,  XXXVII.) 

13.  Tourmalines,  varying  from  black  through  red,  dark  blue,  olive 

green,  and  white,  the  red  varieties  being  commonest  in 
India.  (The  lychnis  of  Pliny,  XXXVII,  29. ) 

For  further  discussion  of  the  deposits  and  trade,  see  Lassen,  I, 
229-43;  Tavernier,  II. 

“Beryls,”  says  Pliny  (XXXVII,  20),  ‘ “are  produced  in  India, 
and  are  rarely  to  be  found  elsewhere.  The  lapidaries  cut  all  beryls 
of  a hexagonal  form,  because  the  color,  which  is  deadened  by  a dull 
uniformity  of  the  surface,  is  heightened  by  the  reflection  from  the 
angles.  If  they  are  cut  in  any  other  way,  these  stones  have  no  bril- 
liancy whatever.”  (The  crystals  are  naturally  hexahedral. ) ‘“The 
most  esteemed  beryls  are  those  which  in  color  resemble  the  pure  green 
of  the  sea.  . . . The  people  of  India  are  marvelously  fond  of  beryls 
of  an  elongated  form,  and  say  that  these  are  the  only  precious  stones 
they  prefer  wearing  without  the  addition  of  gold.” 

In  the  Mrichchhakatikd , an  early  Sanscrit  play,  there  is  a scene 
which  includes  a row  of  jewelers’  shops,  “where  skillful  artists  are 
examining  pearls,  topazes,  sapphires,  beryls,  rubies,  lapis  lazuli,  coral 


224 


and  other  jewels;  some  set  rubies  in  gold;  some  work  with  gold  or- 
naments on  colored  thread,  some  string  pearls,  some  grind  the  lapis 
lazuli,  some  pierce  shells,  and  some  cut  coral.”  (Mitra,  op.  cit., 

p.  100.) 

5b.  Diamonds.— The  text  is  adamas.  Some  commentators, 
notably  Dana,  have  doubted  whether  the  Romans  ever  knew  the  true 
diamond.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Pliny  in  his  description 
(XXXVII,  15)  includes  under  adamas  other  substances,  probably 
quartz,  iron  ore,  emery,  etc. , but  he  also  says  that  the  diamond  possessed 
the  greatest  value,  not  only  among  the  precious  stones,  but  of  all  human 
possessions;  and  as  Watt  says  (p.  556),  India  was  long  the  only 
source  of  diamonds  known  to  European  nations. 

Garcia  de  Orta  (1563),  mentions  various  Eastern  diamond 
mines,  such  as  those  of  ‘ Bisnager”  ( Vijayanagar)  and  the  “Decam” 
(Deccan).  Ball,  in  his  translation  of  Tavernier’s  Travels,  gives  full 
particulars  of  all  the  Indian  sources  of  diamonds  (II,  450-461). 
Tavernier  was  a diamond  merchant  and  the  first  European  (1676)  to 
examine  critically  the  diamonds  and  court  jewels  of  India. 

The  principal  districts  were, 

(1)  Southern  Group: — districts  of  Kadapa,  Bellary,  Karnul, 

Kistna,  Godaveri,  (Golconda,  etc.); 

(2)  Middle  Group: — MahanadI  valley,  districts  of  Sambalpur, 

Chanda; 

(3)  Northern  Group: — Yindhyan  conglomerates  near  Panna 

(still  worked ). 

Pliny  (XXXVII,  15)  describes  the  Indian  adamas  as  “found, 
not  in  a stratum  of  gold,  but  in  a substance  of  a kindred  nature  to 
crystal;  which  it  closely  resembles  in  its  transparency  and  its  highly 
polished  hexangular  and  hexahedral  forms.”  (The  true  form  of  the 
diamond  is  octahedral.)  “In  shape  it  is  turbinated,  running  to  a 
point  at  either  extremity,  and  closely  resembling,  marvelous  to  think 
of,  two  cones  united  at  the  base.  In  size,  too,  it  is  as  large  even  as 
a hazel-nut.  ” 

The  Romans  seem  to  have  had  no  knowledge  of  diamond- 
cutting. Pliny  goes  on  to  say  that  “its  hardness  is  beyond  all  expres- 
sion, while  at  the  same  time  it  quite  sets  fire  at  defiance;  owing  to 
which  indomitable  powers  it  has  received  the  name  which  it  derives 
from  the  Greek.”  ( a privative,  and  damad,  “to  subdue.”) 

After  his  description  of  the  hardness  of  the  diamond,  Pliny  ob- 
serves, “this  indomitable  power,  which  sets  at  naught  the  two  most 
violent  agents  in  nature,  fire,  namely,  and  iron,  is  made  to  yield  before 


225 


the  blood  of  a he-goat.  The  blood,  however,  must  be  fresh  and 
warm ; the  stone,  too,  must  be  well  steeped  in  it.  ” 

Ball  (Tavernier,  Travels,  II,  460-1),  quotes  a story  from  Nicol 
Conti  (15th  century)  about  Indian  diamonds  obtainable  only  by  fling- 
ing pieces  of  meat  on  the  mountain,’  ’ where  the  diamonds  could  not 
be  collected  owing  to  the  number  of  serpents.  The  pieces  of  meat 
with  diamonds  sticking  to  them  were  then  carried  to  their  nests  by 
birds  of  prey,  from  whence  they  were  recovered  by  diamond  seekers. 

. . . This  myth  is  founded  on  the  very  common  practice  in  India  on 
the  opening  of  a mine,  to  offer  up  cattle  to  propitiate  the  evil  spirits 
who  are  supposed  to  guard  treasures — these  being  represented  by  the 
myth.  At  such  sacrifices  birds  of  prey  assemble  to  pick  up  what  they 
can;’’  which  is  the  foundation  for  the  remainder  of  the  story. 

Here  we  have  a striking  similarity  to  the  beliefs  connected  with 
the  gathering  of  frankincense,  as  outlined  under  § 29,  and  pepper 
(§  56). 

The  Thousand  Nights  and  One  Night  gives  substantially  the  same 
story  (dxliv-v;  Sinbad  the  Sailor,  2d  voyage),  while  sufficiently  iden- 
tifying the  stone : 

Walking  along  the  valley  I found  that  its  soil  was  of  diamond, 
the  stone  wherewith  they  pierce  jewels  and  precious  stones  and  por- 
celain and  onyx,  for  that  it  is  a hard  dense  stone,  whereon  neither 
iron  nor  steel  hath  effect,  neither  can  we  cut  off  aught  therefrom  nor 
break  it,  save  by  means  of  the  leadstone.” 

Marco  Polo  (III,  xix)  records  more  definitely  this  ancient  belief : 

Moreover  in  those  mountains  great  serpents  are  rife  to  a mar- 
velous degree,  besides  other  vermin,  and  this  owing  to  the  great  heat. 
The  serpents  are  also  the  most  venomous  in  existence,  insomuch  that 
any  one  going  to  that  region  runs  fearful  peril;  for  many  have  been 
destroyed  by  these  evil  reptiles. 

“Now  among  these  mountains  there  are  certain  great  and  deep 
valleys,  to  the  bottom  of  which  there  is  no  access.  Wherefore  the 
men  who  go  in  search  of  the  diamonds  take  with  them  pieces  of  flesh, 
as  lean  as  they  can  get,  and  these  they  cast  into  the  bottom  of  a valley. 
Now  there  are  numbers  of  white  eagles  that  haunt  those  mountains 
and  feed  upon  the  serpents.  When  the  eagles  see  the  meat  thrown 
down  they  pounce  upon  it  and  carry  it  up  to  some  rocky  hill-top 
where  they  begin  to  rend  it.  Bet  there  are  men  on  the  watch,  and 
as  soon  as  they  see  that  the  eagles  have  settled  they  raise  a loud  shout- 
ing to  drive  them  away.  And  when  the  eagles  are  thus  frightened 
away  the  men  recover  the  pieces  of  meat,  and  find  theiti  full  of  dia- 
monds which  have  stuck  to  the  meat  down  in  the  bottom.  For  the 


226 


abundance  of  diamonds  down  there  in  the  depth  of  the  valley  is  aston- 
ishing, but  nobody  can  get  them;  and  if  one  could  it  would  be  only 
to  be  incontinently  devoured  by  the  serpents  which  are  so  rife  there.” 

The  part  played  by  the  eagles  is  that  of  other  sacred  birds,  for  the 
defence  and  profit  of  man.  Compare  the  bird  Jatayu,  who  gave  his 
life  in  defence  of  Slta  against  the  Raksha  Ravana,  in  the  Rarndyana ; 
the  ibis  at  Buto  who  defended  Egypt  against  the  frankincense-serpents, 
(p.  132),  and  the  eagles  who  fought  the  dragons.  (Virgil,  Aeneid, 
XI,  755;  Pliny,  X,  5.) 

Connected  with  these  beliefs  was  that  in  the  efficacy  of  the  dia- 
mond in  warding  off  from  the  wearer  all  sorts  of  evils.  “Sir  John 
Mandeville”  ( Travels , XVII),  recounts  it  for  his  day,  and  it  may 
still  be  observed. 

“He  that  beareth  the  diamond  upon  him,  it  giveth  him  hardiness 
and  manhood,  and  it  keepeth  the  limbs  of  his  body  whole.  It  giveth 
him  victory  of  his  enemies  in  plea  and  in  war,  if  his  cause  be  rightful. 

. . . And  if  any  cursed  witch  or  enchanter  should  bewitch  him,  all 
that  sorrow  and  mischance  shall  turn  to  himself  through  virtue  of  that 
stone.  And  no  wild  beast  dare  assail  the  man  that  beareth  it  on  him. 
And  it  healeth  him  that  is  lunatic,  and  them  that  the  fiend  pursueth 
or  travaileth.  And  if  venom  or  poison  be  brought  in  presence  of  the 
diamond,  anon  it  beginneth  to  wax  moist  and  for  to  sweat.  . . Nathles 
it  befalleth  often  time  that  the  good  diamond  loseth  his  virtue  by  sin, 
and  for  incontinence  of  him  that  beareth  it.  And  then  it  is  needful  to 
make  it  to  recover  his  virtue  again,  or  else  it  is  of  little  value.” 

56.  Sapphires. — The  text  is  hyakinthos,  which  has  been  trans- 
lated as  jacinth,  ruby  and  amethyst.  Jacinth  is  a product  of  Africa 
rather  than  India.  Rubies  are  from  Burma  and  probably  never  came 
in  great  quantities  from  India.  Pliny  says  that  the  hyacinth  resembles 
the  amethyst,  but  draws  a distinction  between  them.  Pliny  probably 
had  in  mind  a violet  sapphire,  and  his  word  really  might  be  translated 
as  meaning  all  tints  of  sapphire  from  blue  to  purple. 

Dionysius  Periegetes  refers  to  the  “lovely  land  of  the  Indians 
where  the  complexions  of  the  dwellers  are  dark,  their  limbs  exquisitely 
sleek  and  smooth,  and  the  hair  of  their  heads  surpassing  smooth  and 
dark  blue  like  the  hyacinth.”  (McCrindle,  Ancient  India,  p.  188.) 

W.  Goodchild  ( Precious  Stones, p.  183),  also  thinks  that  the  sap- 
phire was  the  hyacinthus  of  Pliny,  and  says  that  the  principal  source 
of  sapphires  in  that  part  of  the  world  was  in  the  watered  gravels  of 
Southern  Ceylon,  which  were  derived  from  watered  crystaline  rocks; 
and  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus  the  natural  market  would  have  been 
on  the  Malabar  coast.  The  ruby,  which  is  practically  of  the  same 


227 


chemical  composition,  being  of  the  corundum  group,  was  found  in  the 
same  place  as  the  sapphire  in  Ceylon,  and  was  probably  classified  by 
Pliny  under  the  carbunculus  (XXXVII,  25  ).  Both  rubies  and  sapphires 
are  found  in  much  greater  quantities  in  Burma  and  Siam,  but  at  the  time 
of  the  Periplus  these  deposits  were  probably  unknown  to  western 
commerce. 

56.  Tortoise-shell  from  Chryse. — Fabricius  objects  to  this 
reading,  and  alters  it  to  “that  found  along  the  coast;”  but  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  text  gives  a correct  reference  to  the  active  trade  of  Eastern 
shipping  in  South  Indian  ports;  which  is,  indeed,  specifically  mentioned 
in  §§  60  and  63.  Marco  Polo  notes  particularly  the  ships  “from  the 
great  province  of  Manzi,”  and  says  (III,  xxv)  that  the  ships  from 
Malabar  to  Aden  and  Egypt  “are  not  one  to  ten  of  those  that  go  to 
the  eastward;  a very  notable  fact.” 

To  assume  that  conditions  were  the  same  at  the  time  of  the  Peri- 
plus would  be  to  go  beyond  the  evidence;  yet  the  records  of  the 
Chinese  themselves  point  strongly  to  the  existence  of  an  active  sea- 
trade  at  that  time,  certainly  to  Malacca,  and  less  frequently,  perhaps, 
to  India  and  beyond. 

With  this  item  ends  the  list  of  articles  traded  in  by  the  author  of 
the  Periplus.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  it  with  the  letter  from  the 
Zamorin  of  Calicut  to  the  King  of  Portugal,  carried  by  Vasco  da 
Gama  on  his  return  from  India  fourteen  centuries  later:  “In  my 
kingdom  there  is  abundance  of  cinnamon,  cloves,  ginger,  pepper, 
and  precious  stones.  What  I seek  from  thy  country  is  gold,  silver, 
coral,  and  scarlet.” 

57.  Hippalus  first  discovered. — The  discovery  of  Hippalus, 
which  maybe  placed  at  about  45  A.  D.  (see  p.  8),  opened  a new 
ocean  to  Roman  shipping;  but  it  is  probable  that  Arabian  and  Dra- 
vidian  craft  had  frequented  that  ocean  for  many  centuries,  and  incon- 
ceivable that  they  should  not  have  made  use  of  the  periodic  changes 
of  the  monsoons,  by  far  the  most  notable  feature  of  their  climate. 
The  evidence  of  both  countries  indicates,  on  the  contrary,  that  they 
steered  boldly  out  of  sight  of  land,  before  records  were  written  to  tell 
of  it 

Mr.  Kennedy  in  an  article  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royai  Asiatic 
Society , 1898,  (pp.  248-287)  also  thinks  that  the  monsoons  were  un- 
derstood before  the  time  of  Hippalus,  but  doubts  the  beginning  of  any 
regular  sea-trade  before  the  beginning  of  the  7th  century  B.  C. , 
ascribing  all  such  trade  to  the  activities  of  Nabonidus,  in  whose  time 
ships  were  known  to  have  come  to  Babylon  from  India  and  even  from 
China.  Following  this  reign  he  thinks  sea-trade  between  P'c'.i  and 


228 


Babylon  flourished  for  a couple  of  centuries,  being  mainly  Dravidian 
but  partly  Aryan,  and  leading  to  the  settlement  of  Indian  traders  in 
Arabia,  East  Africa,  Babylonia  and  China.  He  minimizes  the  impor- 
tance of  the  early  Egyptian  trading-voyages,  considering  them  purely 
local,  while  the  numerous  references  to  articles  and  routes  of  early 
trade  in  the  Hebrew  scriptures  he  passes  by  with  the  assertion  that  they 
are  due  to  the  revision  following  the  return  of  Ezra. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  Ezra’s  revision  of  the  Hebrew 
books,  substantially  the  same  articles  of  trade  are  described  in  the 
records  of  Egypt  at  corresponding  dates,  and  they  indicate  a trade  in 
articles  of  Indian  origin  to  the  Somali  coast  and  overland  to  the  Nile, 
centuries  before  Ezra’s  day.  (See  also  under  §§  6,  10,  11,  and  12.) 

Such  opinions  presume  a continuous  trading-journey  without  ex- 
change of  cargoes  at  common  meeting-points.  But  primitive  trade 
passes  from  tribe  to  tribe  and  port  to  port.  At  the  time  of  the 
Periplus  cargoes  changed  hands  in  Malacca,  Malabar,  Somaliland, 
South  Arabia,  Adulis  and  Berenice.  The  custom  is  stated  in  detail 
in  the  Deir  el  Bahri  reliefs  describing  Queen  Hatshepsut’s  expedition 
of  1500  B.  C.,  where  Amon-Re  tells  the  queen, 

“No  one  trod  the  incense-terraces,  which  the  people  knew  not; 
they  were  heard  of  from  mouth  to  mouth  by  hearsay  of  the  ancestors. 
The  marvels  brought  thence  under  thy  fathers,  the  Kings  of  Lower 
Egypt,  were  brought  from  one  to  another , and  since  the  time  of  the  an- 
cestors of  the  Kings  of  Upper  Egypt,  who  were  of  old,  as  a return 
for  tnany  payments.”  (Breasted,  Ancient  Records,  II,  287). 

It  was  the  particular  achievement  of  the  Egyptian  Punt  expedi- 
tions that  they  traced  the  treasured  articles  to  their  source  and  freed 
the  land  from  the  heavy  charge  of  those  “many  payments.”  Like- 
wise Hippalus  must  be  remembered,  not  for  a discovery  new  to  the 
world,  but  for  freeing  the  Roman  Empire  from  Arabian  monopoly  of 
the  Eastern  trade  by  tracing  it  to  its  source.  Beyond  India  no  lasting 
discovery  was  made.  Ptolemy,  indeed,  knew  of  Cattigara  through 
the  account  given  by  Marinus  of  Tyre;  but  such  voyages  were  ex- 
ceptional, and  the  majority  of  the  Chinese  ships  stopped  at  Malacca, 
while  the  Malay  colandia  carried  the  trade  to  Malabar.  It  remained 
for  the  Arabs  to  complete  the  “through  line”  by  opening  direct  com- 
munication under  the  Bagdad  Caliphate,  between  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
Lisbon  and  Canton. 

Prof.  T.  W.  Rhys  Davids,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic 
Society,  1899,  p.  432,  quotes  an  interesting  Buddhist  passage  referring 
to  early  sea-trade  as  follows: 


229 


“In  the  Dialogues  of  the  Buddha  is  a passage  in  the  Kevaddha 
Sutta  of  Digha — 5th  cent.  B.  C.  The  Buddha  says: 

“Long  ago  ocean-going  merchants  were  wont  to  plunge  forth 
upon  the  sea,  on  board  a ship,  taking  with  them  a shore-sighting  bird. 
When  the  ship  was  out  of  sight  of  land  they  would  set  the  shore- 
sighting bird  free.  And  it  would  go  to  the  East  and  to  the  South  and 
to  the  West  and  to  the  North,  and  to  the  intermediate  points,  and 
rise  aloft.  If  on  the  horizon  it  caught  sight  of  land,  thither  it  would 
go,  but  if  not  it  would  come  back  to  the  ship  again.  Just  so, 
brother,”  etc. 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes  found  this  same  custom  in  Ceylon  in  the 
6th  century  A.  D.,  merchants  depending  on  shore -sighting  birds 
instead  of  observations  of  the  sun  or  stars. 

There  are  similar  passages  in  the  oldest  of  the  Vedas  (see  Gib- 
son’s Rig  Veda , Vol.  I): 

“Varuna,  who  knows  the  path  of  the  birds  flying  through  the 
air,  he,  abiding  in  the  ocean,  knows  also  the  course  of  ships.’  ’ 

“May  Ushas  dawn  today,  the  excitress  of  chariots  which  are 
harnessed  at  her  coming,  as  those  who  are  desirous  of  wealth  send 
ships  to  sea.” 

“Do  thou,  Agni,  whose  countenance  is  turned  to  all  sides,  send 
off  our  adversaries,  as  if  in  a ship  to  the  opposite  shore.  Do  thou 
convey  us  in  a ship  across  the  sea  for  our  welfare.”  (A  remarkable 
prayer  for  safe  conduct  at  sea.  ) 

Kalidasa,  in  the  Sakunta/a,  gives  the  story  of  the  merchant  Dha- 
navriddhi,  whose  immense  wealth  devolved  to  the  king  on  the 
former’s  perishing  at  sea  and  leaving  no  heirs  behind  him. 

The  Hitopadesa  describes  a ship  as  a necessary  requisite  for  a man 
to  traverse  the  ocean,  and  a story  is  given  of  a certain  merchant, 
“who,  after  having  been  twelve  years  on  his  voyage,  at  last  returned 
home  with  a cargo  of  precious  stones.  ” 

The  Institutes  of  Manu  include  rules  for  the  guidance  of  mari- 
time commerce. 

The  passages  quoted  above  indicate  a well-developed  and  not  a 
primitive  trade.  The  sea-trade  was  principally  of  Dravidian  develop- 
ment, while  both  the  Vedas  and  the  Buddhist  writings  are  of  Aryan 
origin,  and  refer  to  things  new  to  their  race  but  old  in  the  world. 

(See  also  Biihler,  Indische  Studien,  in  Sitzungsberichte  der  Kais. 
Akad.  d.  IVissenschaften , Vienna,  1895,  No.  3,  pp.  81-2;  Indian 
Palesograpbx,  § 5;  houlke,  in  Indian  Antiquarx , XVI,  7;  Lassen, 
III,  3.) 

More  significant  is  the  Phoenician  origin  of  the  Dravidian  alpha- 


230 


bet,  long  before  the  Aryan  invasion  of  southern  India;  while  a passage 
in  the  Ramdyana  suggests  the  ships  of  those  whom  the  invaders 
contemptuously  called  “monkeys.”  When  Rama  was  dispatching 
his  messengers  to  the  four  winds  in  search  of  Slta,  it  was  the  maligned 
Hanuman  who  “flew’  ’ across  the  Gulf  of  Manar  to  Ceylon  and  dis- 
covered her.  Who  can  doubt  that  the  wings  he  used  were  sails,  or 
that  the  Dravidians  ferried  across  to  Ceylon  a force  of  Aryan  lands- 
men, who  later  turned  and  crushed  them  under  the  caste-system  and 
established  the  dynasties  of  Dravda-desam  ? Stern  must  have  been 
the  subjection  that  brought  them  to  worship  one  of  their  own  race 
under  the  guise  of  a monkey,  and  to  carry  the  cult  of  the  monkey- 
god  Hanuman  in  their  own  ships  to  the  vales  of  Oman,  where  mon- 
keys are  unknown  and  where  it  has  outlived  the  memory  of  its  found- 
ers, to  the  confusion  of  the  modern  observer.  (Gen.  S.  B.  Miles, 
in  Geographical  Journal,  VII,  336.  ) 

Significant  also  is  the  fact  that  Lieutenant  Speke,  when  planning 
his  discovery  of  the  source  of  the  Nile,  secured  his  best  information 
from  a map  reconstructed  out  of  the  Puranas.  ( Journal , pp.  27,  77, 
216;  Wilford,  in  Asiatic  Researches,  III).  It  traced  the  course  of 
the  river,  the  “Great  Krishna,”  through  Cusha-dvipa,  from  a great 
lake  in  Chandristhdn,  “Country  of  the  Moon,”  which  it  gave  the 
correct  position  in  relation  to  the  Zanzibar  islands.  The  name  was 
from  the  native  Unya-muezi,  having  the  same  meaning;  and  the  map 
correctly  mentioned  another  native  name,  Amara , applied  to  the  dis- 
trict bordering  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza. 

“All  our  previous  information,”  says  Speke,  ‘concerning  the 
hydrography  of  these  regions,  originated  with  the  ancient  Hindus, 
who  told  it  to  the  priests  of  the  Nile;  and  all  those  busy  Egyptian 
geographers,  who  disseminated  their  knowledge  with  a view  to 
be  famous  for  their  long-sightedness,  in  solving  the  mystery  which 
enshrouded  the  source  of  their  holy  river,  were  so  many  hypothetical 
humbugs.  The  Hindu  traders  had  a firm  basis  to  stand  upon  through 
their  intercourse  with  the  Abyssinians.”  (See  § 14.) 

Altogether  it  must  be  supposed  that  the  navigation  of  the  Indian 
Ocean  began  from  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Arabia;  that  Western  India 
■claimed  its  share  at  an  early  date;  and  that  this  community  of  interest 
long  excluded  their  customers  of  the  Mediterranean  world,  from  whose 
standpoint  Hippalus  was  quite  as  great  a discoverer  as  if  he  had  really 
been 

“the  first  that  ever  hurst 

Into  that  silent  sea.” 

57.  Throw  the  Ship’s  head. — The  text  is  tiachelizontes, 
which  is  a wrestlers’  term  meaning  literally  “throwing  by  the  neck." 


231 


Stern  of  a Burmese  rice-boat,  showing  method  of  steering,  identical  with  the  Egyptian  and  Roman 

rudders  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus, 


232 


The  word  has  led  to  much  unnecessary  confusion  in  the  translation 
of  this  passage.  Our  author  is  describing  a sailing-course  which  is 
obvious  by  referring  to  the  map.  The  straight  course  before  the 
trade-wind,  from  Hisn  Ghorab  to  the  Gulf  of  Cambay  or  the  mouth  of 
the  Indus,  would  carry  a vessel  along  the  Arabian  shore  as  far  as  Ras 
Fartak,  beyond  which  the  coast  gradually  recedes,  so  that  the  vessel 
would  stand  out  to  sea  without  changing  its  course.  A vessel  bound 
for  the  Malabar  ports  and  sailing  before  the  wind,  with  the  type  of 
rigging  then  in  use,  would  have  required  steering  off  her  course  the 
whole  time,  thus  describing  a wide  curve  before  making  the  Indian 
coast.  Boats  were  not  handled  as  easily  then  as  now  on  a beam  wind. 
The  quarter-rudder  required  a constant  pull  on  the  tiller  by  the  hands 
of  the  steersman. 

57.  The  same  course. — Pliny’s  account  of  the  voyage  to 
India  (VI,  26),  which  has  been  cited  by  most  commentators  on  the 
Periplus,  is  appended  for  comparison.  It  will  be  seen  that  while  it 
agrees  with  the  Periplus  in  many  points,  particularly  in  its  description 
of  Arabia,  its  description  of  the  Indian  coast  is  not  altogether  the 
same : 

“In  later  times  it  has  been  considered  a well-ascertained  fact  that 
the  voyage  from  Syagrus,  the  Promontory  of  Arabia,  to  Patala,  reck- 
oned at  thirteen  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles,  can  be  performed  most 
advantageously  with  the  aid  of  a westerly  wind,  which  is  there  known 
by  the  name  of  Hippalus. 

“The  age  that  followed  pointed  out  a shorter  route,  and  a safer 
one  to  those  who  might  happen  to  sail  from  the  same  prpmontory  for 
Sigerus,  a port  in  India;  and  for  a long  time  this  route  was  followed, 
until  at  last  a still  shorter  cut  was  discovered  by  a merchant,  and  the 
thirst  for  gain  brought  India  even  still  nearer  to  us.  At  the  present 
day  voyages  are  made  to  India  every  year;  and  companies  of  archers 
are  carried  on  board  the  vessels,  as  those  seas  are  greatly  infested  with 
pirates. 

“It  will  not  be  amiss  too,  on  the  present  occasion,  to  set  forth 
the  whole  of  the  route  from  Egypt,  which  has  been  stated  to  us  of 
late,  upon  information  on  which  reliance  may  be  placed,  and  is  here 
published  for  the  first  time.  The  subject  is  one  well  worthy  of  our 
notice,  seeing  that  in  no  year  does  India  drain  our  empire  of  less  than 
five  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  sesterces,  giving  back  her  own  wares 
in  exchange,  which  are  sold  among  us  at  fully  one  hundred  times  . 
their  prime  cost. 

“Two  miles  distant  from  Alexandria  is  the  town  of  Juliopolis. 
The  distance  thence  to  Coptos,  up  the  Nile,  is  three  hundred  and 


233 


eight  miles;  the  voyage  is  performed,  when  the  Etesian  winds  are 
blowing,  in  twelve  days.  From  Coptos  the  journey  is  made  with  the 
aidof  camels,  stations  being  arranged  at  intervals  for  the  supply  of  fresh 
water.  The  first  of  these  stations  is  called  Hydreuma  (watering-place), 
and  is  distant  twenty-two  miles;  the  second  is  situate  on  a mountain,  at 
a distance  of  one  day’s  journey  from  the  last;  the  third  is  at  a second 
Hydreuma  distant  from  Coptos  ninety-five  miles;  the  fourth  is  on  a 
mountain;  the  next  to  that  is  another  Hydreuma,  that  of  Apollo,  and 
is  distant  from  Coptos  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  miles;  after  which, 
there  is  another  on  a mountain.  There  is  then  another  station  at  a 
place  called  the  New  Hydreuma,  distant  from  Coptos  two  hundred 
and  thirty  miles;  and  next  to  it  there  is  another,  called  the  Old  Hy- 
dreuma, or  the  Troglodytic,  where  a detachment  is  always  on  guard, 
with  a caravansary  that  affords  lodging  for  two  thousand  persons. 
This  last  is  distant  from  the  New  Hydreuma  seven  miles.  After 
leaving  it  we  come  to  the  city  of  Berenice,  situate  upon  a harbor  of 
the  Red  Sea  and  distant  from  Coptos  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
miles.  The  greater  part  of  this  distance  is  generally  travelled  by 
night,  on  account  of  the  extreme  heat,  the  days  being  spent  at  the 
stations;  in  consequence  of  which  it  takes  twelve  days  to  perform  the 
whole  journey  from  Coptos  to  Berenice. 

' Passengers  generally  set  sail  at  midsummer,  before  the  rising 
of  the  Dog-star,  or  else  immediately  after,  and  in  about  thirty  days 
arrive  at  Ocelis  in  Arabia,  or  else  at  Cana,  in  the  region  which  bears 
frankincense.  There  is  also  a third  port  of  Arabia,  Muza  by  name ; 
it  is  not,  however,  used  by  persons  on  their  passage  to  India,  as  only 
those  touch  at  it  who  deal  in  incense  and  the  perfumes  of  Arabia. 
More  in  the  interior  there  is  a city;  the  residence  of  the  king  there  is 
called  Sapphar,  and  there  is  another  city  known  by  the  name  of  Save. 
To  those  who  are  bound  for  India,  Ocelis  is  the  best  place  for  em- 
barcation.  If  the  wind,  called  Hippalus,  happens  to  be  blowing,  it  is 
possible  to  arrive  in  forty  days  at  the  nearest  mart  in  India,  Muziris  by 
name.  This,  however,  is  not  a very  desirable  place  for  disembarca- 
tion,  on  account  of  the  pirates  which  frequent  its  vicinity,  where  they, 
occupy  a place  called  Nitrias;  nor,  in  fact,  is  it  very  rich  in  articles  of 
merchandise.  Besides,  the  roadstead  for  shipping  is  a considerable 
distance  from  the  shore,  and  the  cargoes  have  to  be  conveyed  in  boats, 
either  for  loading  or  discharging.  At  the  moment  that  I am  writing 
these  pages,  the  name  of  the  king  of  this  place  is  Caelobothras. 
Another  port,  and  a much  more  convenient  one,  is  that  which  lies  in 
the  territory  of  the  people  called  Neacyndi,  Barace  by  name.  Here 
king  Pandion  used  to  reign,  dwelling  at  a considerable  distance  from 


234 


the  mart  in  the  interior,  at  a city  known  as  Modiera.  The  district 
from  which  pepper  is  carried  down  to  Barace  in  boats  hollowed  out 
of  a single  tree  (see  illustration  on  p.  212),  is  known  as  Cottonara. 
None  of  these  names  of  nations,  ports,  and  cities  are  to  be  found  in 
any  of  the  former  writers,  from  which  circumstance  it  would  appear 
that  the  localities  hat  e since  changed  their  names.  Travellers  set  sail 
from  India  on  their  return  to  Europe,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Egyptian 
month  of  Tybis,  which  is  our  December,  or  at  all  events  before  the 
sixth  day  of  the  Egyptian  month  Mechir,  the  same  as  our  Ides  of  Janu- 
ary; if  they  do  this  they  can  go  and  return  in  the  same  year.  They 
set  sail  from  India  with  a south-east  wind,  and  upon  entering  the  Red 
Sea,  catch  the  south-west  or  south.” 

58.  Dark  Red  Mountain. — The  text  is  Pyrrhon.  __  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  refers  to  the  “Red  Bluffs,”  a series  of 
high  sandstone  and  laterite  headlands,  which  abut  on  the  coast  at 
Varkkallai  (8°  42’  N. ),  and  again  below  Anjengo  (8°  40'  N.,  76° 
45'  E.).  These  are  the  “Warkalli  Beds”  of  the  Indian  geologists, 
and  have  recently  been  pierced  by  a canal  to  complete  the  backwater 
communication  between  Tirur  and  Trivandrum,  nearly  200  miles. 
( Imperial  Gazetteer,  XXIV,  300.) 

Beyond  this  point  we  must  assume  that  the  author  of  the  Periplus 
did  not  go.  The  remainder  of  his  work,  usually  referred  to  as  the 
“sequel,”  represents  what  he  learned  by  inquiring  of  acquaintances 
at  Nelcynda  or  Bacare,  and  set  down  in  writing  toward  lightening  the 
darkness  of  Mediterranean  ideas  concerning  all  matters  oriental. 

58.  Paralia. — According  to  Caldwell  ( Dravldian  Grammar , 
56),  this  is  a translation  of  the  Tamil  Karel,  “coast;”  according  to 
Burnell  and  Yule,  it  is  Purali,  an  ancient  local  name  for  Travancore. 
This  is  supported  by  Gundert  in  his  Malayalam  Dictionary,  and  by  the 
Malayalam  translation  of  the  Ramayana.  The  Raja’s  titles  still 
include  that  of  Purahsan,  “Lord  of  Purali.”  The  native  name  for 
this  country  in  general  was  Malayalam , from  mala,  mountain,  and 
alam,  depth;  the  land  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains, — Piedmont. 

Paralia,  to  the  author  of  the  Periplus,  is  the  coast-line  below  the 
Travancore  backwaters,  around  Cape  Comorin,  and  as  far  as  Adam’s 
Bridge:  comprised  within  the  modern  districts  of  Travancore  and 
Tinnevelly. 

58.  Balita. — This  is  probably  the  modern  Varkkallai  (8°  42’ 
N. , 76°  43’  E.  ).  It  was  formerly  the  southern  end  of  the  long  line  of 
backwaters,  and  a place  of  considerable  commercial  importance.  By 
cutting  through  a bluff  the  l acliwaters  have  recently  been  connected 
with  others  leading  as  far  as  Trivandrum,  which  is  now  the  chief  port 


235 


of  the  district.  At  Varkkallai  is  the  celebrated  temple  of  Janardan, 
an  avatar  of  Vishnu,  visited  by  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  India;  while 
numerous  mineral  springs  in  the  vicinity  make  it  a favorite  health 
resort.  {Imp.  Gaz.,  XXIV,  300.) 

58.  Goman. — This  is  Cape  Comorin,  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  Indian  peninsula  (8°  S'  N.,  77°  33’  E. ).  The  name  is  the 
Tamil  form  of  the  Sanscrit  Kumari,  virgin,  which  was  applied  to  the 
goddess  Durga,  or  Parvati,  the  consort  of  Siva. 

Yule  observes  (Marco  Polo,  II,  882-3)  that  the  monthly  bathing 
in  her  honor  is  still  continued;  and  according  to  the  Imperial  Gazetteer 
(X,  376),  it  is  “one  of  the  most  important  places  of  pilgrimage  in 
Southern  India. 

In'-’the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era  Rome,  Parthia,  India, 
and  China  were  the  four  great  powers  of  the  world,  of  which  the 
first  and  last  were  advancing,  the  others  passing  through  political 
transformation.  Of  the  world’s  religions,  the  Buddhist,  as  Edmunds 
has  well  said  ( Buddhist  and  Christian  Gospels,  3d  ed.,  Tokyo,  1905, 
p.  23),  “was  the  most  powerful  on  the  planet.  But  it  was  no  longer 
the  Buddhism  of  the  Emperor  Asoka.  The  disintegration  of  the 
Maurya  Empire  had  been  followed  by  the  rise  of  the  Indo-Scythian 
power  in  the  northwest,  and  of  the  Andhra  in  the  Deccan.  Both 
these  were  Buddhist,  the  Scythian  Kanishka  in  the  following  century 
being  the  second  great  exponent  of  that  faith;  but  the  ways  of  the 
barbarian  were  not  those  of  the  Hindu,  the  two  chief  Buddhist  powers 
were  at  war,  and  in  126  A.  D. , when  the  Andhra  king  Vilivayakura 
II,  or  Gautamlputra  Satakarni  conquered,  the  queen-mother  Balasrl 
set  up  a memorial  at  Karll  telling  how  he  “destroyed  the  Sakas, 
Yavanas,  and  Pahlavas  . . . properly  expended  the  taxes  which  he 
levied  in  accordance  with  the  sacred  law  . . . and  prevented  the 
mixing  of  the  four  castes.”  (Vincent  Smith,  Early  History,  188.) 
To  the  north  the  great  missionary  movement  through  Turkestan  and 
China  had  only  just  begun,  while  the  race-migrations  from  the  Hima- 
layas into  Burma  and  Indo-China,  which  made  of  those  kingdoms  a 
bulwark  of  Buddhism  in  the  middle  ages,  had  not  taken  place.  In 
Ceylon  the  native  race,  the  Sinhalese,  were  heartily  for  the  Law  of 
Piety,  as  in  Asoka’s  day;  but  opposed  to  them  racially  and  in  matters 
religious,  were  their  neighbors  and  ancient  enemies,  the  Southern 
Dravidians,  with  their  Aryan  dynasties  and  caste-systems,  who  had 
never  embraced  the  Buddhist  doctrine,  and  whose  primitive  nature- 
worship  was  included  bodily  within  the  cult  of  the  Hindu  gods.  Siva 
especially,  “the  auspicious,’’  Rudra  of  the  Vedas-,  the  god  of  the 
storm,  the  destroyer  and  reproducer,  was  the  deity  venerated  by  the 


236 


Dravidians,  together  with  his  consort  or  “energic  principle,”  Durga. 
(His  symbol  was  the  cobra,  hers  the  lion,  while  their  son  was  Ganesa, 
elephant-headed,  the  god  of  learning. ) And  as  the  southern  kingdoms 
waxed  strong,  so  their  religion  was  pushed  forward,  steadily  displacing 
Buddhism  in  its  home-land  as  it  in  turn  spread  outward  over  the  great 
continent  of  Asia;  until  the  Deccan  and  Bengal  returned  to  the  earlier 
faith,  while  of  the  structure  built  up  by  Kanishka  the  White  Huns 
had  left  but  wreckage. 

The  religion  of  India  as  seen  by  the  author  of  the  Periplus  was 
therefore  twofold:  at  Barygaza  under  the  Saka  satraps,  a heterodox 
Buddhism  had  supplanted  the  Law  observed  at  Ujjeni  and  Pataliputta 
under  the  Mauryas,  and  preached  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  under 
Asoka  in  the  third  century  B.  C. ; while  the  purer  form  still  upheld 
by  the  Andhras  could  not  be  found  at  their  western  port,  Calliena, 
which  the  Sakas  had  “obstructed.”  In  the  south  the  earlier  faith 
was  advancing,  and  in  Nelcynda,  where  some  acquaintance  related  to 
our  author  the  things  he  set  down  about  the  eastern  half  of  India,  it 
was  the  great  epics  which  supplied  the  information ; the  Puranas,  the 
Mahabharata  and  the  Ramayana , which  continued  to  uphold  the 
“southern  sisters”  in  the  use  of  that  visible  altar-flame  which  those 
of  the  north  had  thought  to  replace  by  contemplation  of  the  “inner 
light,”  but  were  learning  anew  their  lesson  from  the  Katha  Upanishad : 
“that  fire  is  day  by  day  to  be  praised  by  men  who  wake,  with  the 
oblation.” 

Underlying  the  formal  acceptance  of  the  Brahman  faith  there 
still  existed  the  earlier  animism,  the  worship  of  spirits  in  the  form  of 
trees  and  serpents,  with  all  the  train  of  associated  beliefs  described  in 
such  works  as  Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship-,  Tylor,  Primitive 
Culture-,  Frazer,  The  Golden  Bough-,  W.  Robertson  Smith,  The  Reli- 
gion of  the  Semites ; Ernest  Crawley,  The  Tree  of  Life.  The  identity 
of  belief  has  been  indicated  by  the  legends  attached  to  the  most  treas- 
ured articles  of  early  trade.  For  international  trade  began  largely  on 
a religious  basis,  and  was  continued  as  a means  of  elaborating  worship. 
And  to  the  activity  and  persuasiveness  of  the  commercial  peoples  may 
be  attributed  the  wide  acceptance  of  their  assertions  regarding  the 
peculiar  efficacy  and  sanctity  of  the  spirits  of  their  own  sacred  trees. 
There  was  no  reason  per  se  for  the  Egyptian  faith  in  myrrh  as  a purify- 
ing and  cleansing  agent  beyond  the  gum  of  their  own  trees,  or  for  the 
trust  of  the  Babylonians  and  Greeks  in  frankincense,  or  of  the  Romans 
in  cinnamon,  beyond  their  own  pine-resin  or  the  “golden  bough”  of 
their  earlier  faith;  it  was  the  result  of  the  eclectic  spirit  which  accepted 
that  which  was  told  them  by  strangers.  The  serpent-cult  in  Rome 


237 


was  no  mere  extravagance,  but  reflected  the  early  faith  in  the  existence 
of  departed  spirits  in  serpent  form.  The  funeral  of  Sabina  Poppasa, 
with  its  fabulous  store  of  spices  burned,  was  not  mere  show,  but  was 
intended  to  provide  Nero’s  consort  with  a countless  array  of  protect- 
ing spirits  in  the  under-world. 

This  formless  faith  was  the.  common  property  of  those  trading 
between  east  and  west.  Incorporated  by  Brahmanism,  it  persisted 
almost  unmodified  among  the  caste  of  those  trading  by  sea,  defiled 
beyond  hope  in  Brahman  eyes;  it  permeates  the  Book  of  the  Dead 
and  the  Gilgamesh  epic;  it  is  the  background  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  Koran,  and  it  is  still  addressed  to  their  jinni  by  those  whom 
the  Bents  visited  in  Dhofar  and  Socotra,  whose  ancestors  were  among 
its  earliest  devotees  and  carried  it  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

59.  Colchi. — This  is  the  modern  Kolkai  (8°  40’  N. , 78°  5’ 
E. ).  By  tradition  this  was  the  earliest  seat  of  Dravidian  power  in 
Southern  India,  where  Chera,  Chola  and  Pandya,  the  legendary  pro- 
genitors of  the  great  dynasties,  ruled  in  common  before  their  domin- 
ions were  separated.  At  the  time  of  the  Periplus  it  was  one  of  the 
chief  ports  of  the  Pandyan  kingdom,  being  more  accessible  to  the 
capital  than  Nelcynda.  Owing  to  the  deposit  of  silt  by  the  Tamra- 
parni  River  the  sea  retired  from  Kolkai,  and  in  mediaeval  times 
another  nearby  place,  Kayal  (the  Coil  of  Marco  Polo),  became  the 
port.  At  present  the  trade  of  this  district  passes  through  Tuticorin. 
{Imp.  Gaz.,  XV,  387;  a good  map  is  given  in  Yule’s  Marco  Polo , 
Cordier’s  edition,  II,  373-4. ) 

This  is  the  country  from  which  Hanuman,  the  monkey-god, 
made  his  leap  across  the  sea  from  the  Mahendragiri  mountain  to  Cey- 
lon, and  so  helped  Rama  to  the  rescue  of  his  consort  Slta  from 
Ravana,  the  demon  king  of  Ceylon,  as  told  in  the  Ramayana ; and 
here  was  consequently  a center  of  the  worship  of  Hanuman,  which 
was  carried  afar  by  the  Dravidian  sea-folk.  In  the  rich  Wadi  Tyin 
in  Oman,  the  trade  of  which  passed  through  the  port  of  Kalhat — that 
Acila  of  Pliny  (VI,  32),  “from  which  persons  embarked  for  India,” 
General  Miles  found  a town  Sibal,  which,  he  observes,  means  “mon- 
key, ” and  was  the  name  of  a “famous  pre-Islamic  idol.  No  monkeys 
exist  in  Oman,  but  a temple  stood  here  dedicated  to  that  image.  ’ ’ 
( Geographical  Journal , VII,  522-537). 

T wo  shrines  of  Hanuman  are  still  venerated  at  Surat  on  the 
Cambay  coast,  which  was  also  in  constant  communication  with  Arabia. 

According  to  local  tradition,  this  was  the  original  capital  of  Dra- 
vida-desam , and  the  birthplace  of  the  dynasties  ruling  in  Southern 
India  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus.  This  “dominion  of  the  Pandyas” 


238 


was  said  to  have  been  established  by  the  descendants  of  Pandu,  who 
was  the  father  of  the  Pandava  brothers,  the  heroes  of  the  North 
Indian  war  recounted  in  the  Mahabharata.  Whether  the  dynastic 
connection  was  real,  or  whether  it  was  attached  to  the  legend  like 
Pushkalavati  and  Takshasila  through  Pushkala  and  Taksha,  sons  of 
Bharata  in  the  Rarnayana,  is  less  Important  than  the  obvious  Aryan 
descent  of  the  dynasty  in  this  Dravidian  land,  and  their  rigid  institution 
of  the  caste-system  which  still  prevails  here  in  a completeness  long 
since  outgrown  in  other  parts  of  India.  Those  who  would  see  in  the 
northern  spread  of  this  dynasty  a southern  origin  for  the  Dravidian 
race  do  not  take  into  account  the  late  origin  of  the  dynasty,  probably 
the  5th  or  4th  century  B.  C. , and  its  alien  character  among  a people 
already  settled  and  developed. 

Arrian  ( Indica , VIII)  gives  another  version  of  the  origin  of  this 
dynasty,  from  Pandasa,  who,  he  says,  was  “the  only  daughter  of 
Heracles,  among  many  sons;  the  land  where  she  was  born,  and  over 
which  she  ruled,  was  named  Pandaea  after  her.  ” No  worthy  con- 
sort appearing,  Heracles  made  her  marriageable  at  the  age  of  seven 
years,  and  married  her  himself,  that  the  family  born  from  him  and 
her  might  supply  kings  to  the  Indians.” 

The  story  is  not  accepted  by  Arrian  in  entire  faith;  he  observes 
that  the  power  exerted  by  Heracles  in  hastening  the  maturity  of 
Pandaea  might  more  naturally  have  been  applied  to  the  postponement 
of  his  own  senility;  but,  as  he  says  in  another  connection  (XXXI), 
“I  know,  however,  that  it  is  a very  difficult  task  for  one  who  reads 
the  ancient  tales  to  prove  that  they  are  false.’  ’ 

In  Greek  literature  concerning  India,  Heracles  is  usually  iden- 
tified with  Vishnu,  and  Bacchus  with  Siva. 

The  dominion  of  the  Pandyas  was  divided  among  three  reputed 
brothers,  Chera,  Chola  and  Pandya,  in  which  form  it  appears  in 
Asoka’s  inscription  of  the  3d  century  B.  C.,  and  in  the  Periplus. 
The  capital  had  been  removed,  as  Pliny  states,  to  Madura  (9°  55' 
N.,  78°  T E. ),  which  the  Rarnayana  describes  as  a great  city,  its 
gates  being  of  gold  inlaid  with  gems. 

The  seceding  kingdoms  were  larger  and  more  powerful  than  the 
original,  the  most  important  being  the  Chola,  the  “Coast  Country” 
of  § 59. 

The  dynastic  succession  of  these  kingdoms  forms  the  longest  un- 
broken chain  in  Indian  history,  covering  a period  of  at  least  two 
thousand  years. 

(See  Imperial  Gazetteer,  XVI,  389; — Vincent  Smith,  Early  History , 
341-7;  and  authorities  quoted  on  p.  209.) 


239 


The  Dravidians  of  Southern  India  were  active  traders  and  colo- 
nists in  Ceylon,  in  opposition  to  the  native  Sinhalese,  with  whom  they 
were  in  frequent  conflict,  and  in  spite  of  whom  they  had  extended 
their  power  effectually  over  the  northwestern  coast  of  Ceylon,  the 
region  of  the  pearl-fisheries. 

59.  Pearl-fisheries. — These  were,  as  at  present,  in  the  shallow 
waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Manar.  (See  under  §§  35,  36,  and  56.) 

Pliny  (IX,  54-8)  says  that  pearls  came  into  general  use  in  Rome 
after  the  surrender  of  Alexandria;  but  that  they  first  began  to  be  used 
about  the  time  of  Sylla. 

“The  first  rank,  and  the  very  highest  position  among  all  valu- 
ables belongs  to  the  pearl.  . . . The  most  productive  of  pearls  is  the 
island  of  Taprobane. 

‘ ‘The  origin  and  production  of  the  shell-fish  is  not  very  different 
from  that  of  the  shell  of  the  oyster.  When  the  genial  season  of  the 
year  exercises  its  influence  on  the  animal,  it  is  said  that,  yawning,  as 
it  were,  it  opens  its  shell,  and  so  receives  a kind  of  dew,  by  means  of 
which  it  becomes  impregnated;  and  that  at  length  it  gives  birth,  after 
many  struggles,  to  the  burden  of  its  shell,  in  the  shape  of  pearls, 
which  vary  according  to  the  quality  of  the  dew.  If  this  has  been  in  a 
perfectly  pure  state  when  it  flowed  into  the  shell,  then  the  pearl  pro- 
duced is  white  and  brilliant,  but  if  it  was  turbid,  then  the  pearl  is  of  a 
clouded  color  also;  if  the  sky  should  happen  to  have  been  lowering 
when  it  was  generated,  the  pearl  will  be  of  a pallid  color;  from  all 
which  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  quality  of  the  pearl  depends  much 
more  upon  a calm  state  of  the  heavens  than  of  the  sea,  and  hence  it 
is  that  it  contracts  a cloudy  hue,  or  a limpid  appearance,  according  to 
the  degree  of  serenity  of  the  sky  in  the  morning.  ...  It  is  wonder- 
ful that  they  should  be  influenced  thus  pleasurably  by  the  state  of  the 
heavens,  seeing  that  by  the  action  of  the  sun  the  pearls  are  turned  of 
a red  color,  and  lose  all  their  whiteness,  just  like  the  human  body. 
Hence  it  is  that  those  which  keep  their  whiteness  best  are  the  deep- 
sea  pearls,  which  lie  at  too  great  a depth  to  be  reached  Ly  the  sun's 
rays.  I have  seen  pearls  still  adhering  to  the  shell;  for  which  reason 
the  shells  were  used  as  boxes  for  ointments. 

“The  fish,  as  soon  as  it  even  perceives  the  hand,  shuts  its  shell 
and  covers  up  its  treasures,  being  well  aware  that  it  is  for  them  that  it 
is  sought;  and  if  it  happens  to  catch  the  hand  it  cuts  it  off  with  the 
sharp  edge  of  the  shell.  . . . The  greater  part  of  these  pearls  are 
only  to  be  found  among  rocks  and  crags,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
those  that  lie  out  in  the  deep  sea  are  generally  accompanied  by  sea- 


24U 


dogs.  And  yet,  for  all  this,  the  women  will  not  banish  these  gems 
from  their  ears ! 

"Our  ladies  glory  in  having  pearls  suspended  from  their  fingers, 
or  two  or  three  of  them  dangling  from  their  ears,  delighted  even  with 
the  rattling  of  the  pearls  as  they  knock  against  each  other;  and  now, 
at  the  present  day,  the  poorer  classes  are  even  affecting  them,  as 
people  are  in  the  habit  of  saying,  that  ‘a  pearl  worn  by  a woman  in 
public  is  as  good  as  a lictor  walking  before  her.’  Nay,  even  more 
than  this,  they  put  them  on  their  feet,  and  that,  not  only  on  the  laces 
of  their  sandals  but  all  over  the  shoes;  it  is  not  enough  to  wear  pearls, 
but  they  must  tread  upon  them,  and  walk  with  them  under  foot  as 
well. 

‘‘I  once  saw  Lollia  Paulina,  the  wife  of  the  Emperor  Caius — it 
was  not  at  any  public  festival,  or  any  solemn  ceremonial,  but  only  at 
an  ordinary  betrothal  entertainment — covered  with  emeralds  and 
pearls,  which  shone  in  alternate  layers  upon  her  head,  in  her  hair, 
in  her  wreaths,  in  her  ears,  upon  her  neck,  in  her  bracelets,  and  on 
her  fingers,  and  the  value  of  which  amounted  in  all  to  40, 000,000 
sesterces;  indeed  she  was  prepared  at  once  to  prove  the  fact,  by 
showing  the  receipts  and  acquittances.  Nor  were  these  any  presents 
made  by  a prodigal  potentate,  but  treasures  which  had  descended  to 
her  from  her  grandfather,  and  obtained  by  the  spoliation  of  the  prov- 
inces. Such  are  the  fruits  of  plunder  and  extortion ! It  was  for  this 
reason  that  M.  Lollius  was  held  so  infamous  all  over  the  East  for  the 
presents  which  he  extorted  from  the  kings;  the  result  of  which  was, 
that  he  was  denied  the  friendship  of  Caius  Caesar,  and  took  poison; 
and  all  this  was  done,  I say,  that  his  granddaughter  might  be  seen,  by 
by  the  glare  of  lamps,  covered  all  over  with  jewels  to  the  amount  of 
forty  millions  of  sesterces!’’ 

Pliny  then  recounts  the  well-known  story  of  Cleopatra’s  wager 
with  Antony  to  serve  him  an  entertainment  costing  ten  millions  of 
sesterces,  and  of  her  dissolving  a great  pearl  in  vinegar  and  swallow- 
ing it.  The  same  thing  had  been  done  before,  he  says,  in  Rome,  by 
Clodius,  son  of  the  tragic  actor  Aesopus,  who  served  a meal  in  which 
each  guest  was  given  a pearl  to  swallow. 

Of  the  pearl  industry,  Marco  Polo  says' (III,  xvi):  "Allround 
this  gulf  the  water  has  a depth  of  not  more  than  10  or  12  fathoms, 
and  in  some  places  not  more  than  2 fathoms.  The  pearl-fishers 
take  their  vessels,  great  and  small,  and  proceed  into  this  gulf,  where 
they  stop  from  the  beginning  of  April  till  the  middle  of  May.  . . . 
Of  the  produce  they  have  first  to  pay  the  king,  as  his  royalty,  the 
tenth  part.  And  they  must  also  pay  those  men  who  charm  the  great 


241 


fishes  (sharks)  to  prevent  them  from  injuring  the  divers  whilst  en- 
gaged in  seeking  pearls  under  water,  one-twentieth  part  of  all  that 
they  take.  These  fish-charmers  are  termed  Abraiaman  (Brahmans); 
and  their  charm  holds  good  for  that  day  only,  for  at  night  they  dissolve 
the  charm  so  that  the  fishes  can  work  mischief  at  their  will.” 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  kind  of  protection  was  sought  by 
the  divers  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  and  Yule  observed  it  still  in  force, 
one  of  the  “Brahmans”  exercising  this  ancestral  office  being  a Christian ! 

In  the  case  of  frankincense,  pepper  and  diamonds,  the  guardian 
spirits  took  the  form  of  serpents  and  were  appeased  or  repelled  by 
other  spirits  or  by  sacred  birds.  But  sharks  called  for  the  visible  aid 
of  the  priests.  We  may  suppose  the  shark  to  have  been  a soulless 
and  unimpressionable  demon,  or  else  that  the  industry  dates  from  a 
time  after  the  Aryan  invasion  of  Southern  India,  so  that  the  priestly 
caste  could  properly  decline  to  stand  aside  for  the  benefit  of  the  ser- 
pent-cults that  had  preceded  them. 

59.  Coast,  country. — This  country,  different  from,  and  be- 
yond, the  Pandyan  kingdom,  is  the  third  of  the  Dravidian  states, 
the  Chola  kingdom;  at  the  time  of  the  Periplus,  as  it  states,  the 
largest,  richest,  and  most  prosperous  of  the  three.  “Coast  Country'’ 
is  from  the  native  name,  “Chola  coast,  ” Ghbla-mandalam , from  which 
the  Portuguese  derived  our  modern  word  Coromandel.  By  the  Sara- 
cens it  was  given  another  name,  Maabar,  not  to  he  confused  with 
Malabar;  the  meaning  being  “ferrying-place,”  and  referring  to  the 
shipping-trade  for  Malacca  and  the  Far  East.  By  the  Ceylonese  it 
was  called  Soli,  which  name  they  applied  to  both  Chdla  and  Pandya, 
even  though  their  relations  with  Madura  were  more  important.  The 
boundaries  were,  roughly,  from  the  Penner  River  on  the  north  (emp- 
tying into  the  Bay  of  Bengal  at  14°  40’  N. ),  and  on  the  south  the 
Valiyar  River  (10°  3’  N.  ),  or  even  the  Vaigai  (9°  20/  N. ).  During 
the  mediaeval  period  the  Chola  kingdom  conquered  and  absorbed  its 
progenitor,  the  Pandyan,  and  they  are  still  classified  together  in  the 
modern  “Carnatic.” 

The  pearl-fisheries  belonging  to  this  kingdom,  the  product  of 
which  was  sold  only  at  the  capital,  Uraiyur,  were  those  of  the  Palk 
Strait,  north  of  Adam’s  Bridge,  as  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
Gulf  of  Manar,  which  belonged  to  the  Pandyan  kingdom,  and  were 
administered  from  Madura. 

59.  Argaru. — This  is  nearly  a correct  transliteration  of  Urai- 
yur (“city  of  habitation”),  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Chola  kingdom, 
now  part  of  Trichinopoly  (10°  49’  N.,  78°  42’  E.  ). 


242 


Previous  identifications  of  this  name  have  failed  to  take  into  ac- 
count the  fact  that  it  was  inland,  and  in  a different  country  from  the 
Pandyan  kingdom. 

The  capital  grew  up  around  a fortress  built  on  the  summit  of  the 
Rock  of  Trichinopoly,  which  rises  abruptly  out  of  the  plain  to  a height 
of  340  feet  above  the  old  city,  which  nestles  picturesquely  at  its  foot. 
“The  view  from  the  frowning  heights  of  the  rock  is  very  grand. 
Little  is  now  left  of  the  old  fortifications  but  the  citadel  and  a pagoda- 
like temple.  A covered  passage  hewn  out  of  the  rock  leads  to  them.  ’ ’ 
(Furneaux,  India,  p.  430. ) 

After  the  destruction  of  Uraiyur  about  the  7th  century  A.  D., 
the  capital  was  removed  to  Malaikurram,  the  modern  Kumbakonam 
(10°  58'  N. , 79°  22'  E. ),  which  still  retains  traces  of  its  former 
grandeur;  and  after  other  changes  to  Tanjore  (10°  47'  N. , 79°  8'  E.  ). 
(Sir  Walter  Elliot,  Coins  of  Southern  India,  130;  Vincent  Smith,  Early 
History,  164,  342.) 

59.  Argaritic  muslins. — The  textile  industry  of  both  Trichi- 
nopoly (or  Uraiyur)  and  Tanjore  has  been  famous  from  early  times. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  some  of  the  finest  fabrics  that  reached 
the  Roman  world  came  from  this  kingdom  of  Chola.  From  this  part 
of  India,  in  the  middle  ages,  came  those  gold-threaded  embroideries 
which  were  in  such  demand  in  the  Saracen  markets. 

60.  Ships  from  the  north — that  is,  from  the  Ganges  and 
Bengal.  Kalidasa,  in  the  Raghuvamsa,  tells  of  a tour  of  conquest  of 
India,  made  by  Raghu,  the  great-grandfather  of  Rama;  starting  from 
Ayodhya  (the  modern  Oudh)  he  went  eastward  to  the  ocean,  “having 
conquered  the  Bangalis,  who  trusted  in  their  ships.”  (Foulkes,  in 
Indian  Antiquary,  1879,  pp.  1-10.) 

60.  Camara.— Ptolemy  mentions  a Chaberis  emporion,  at  one  of 
the  mouths  of  the  Kaveri  River;  probably  both  this  and  the  Camara 
of  the  Periplus  were  nearly,  if  not  quite,  identical  with  the  modern 
Karikal  (10°  55'  N.,  79°  50'  E.). 

60.  Poduca. — This  is  probably  intended  for  Puduchcheri,  “new 
town,”  the  modern  Pondicherry  (11°  56'  N.,  79°  49'  E. ).  So 
Bohlen,  Ritter,  Benfey,  Muller,  McCrindle  and  Fabricius;  Yule, 
following  Lassen,  prefers  Pulikat  (13°  25'  N.,  80°  19’  E. ). 

60.  Sopatma. — This  is  probably  Su-patana,  “fair  town,’’  and 
may  be  identified  with  the  modern  Madras  (13°  4'  N.,  80°  15'  E. ). 

Lassen  (II,  542)  doubts  the  possibility  of  identifying  either 
Camara  or  Sopatma;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  Pondicherry  ex- 
isted at  the  time  of  the  Periplus.  The  location  of  all  three  ports  can 
be  no  more  than  conjectural. 


243 


60.  Ships  of  the  country:  Sangara. — The  first  were,  no 
doubt,  the  craft  made  of  hollowed  logs  with  plank  sides  and  outriggers, 
such  as  are  still  used  in  South  India  and  Ceylon  (pictured  on 
p.  212);  the  larger  type,  sangara,  were  probably  made  of  two  such 
canoes  joined  together  by  a deck-platform  admitting  of  a fair-sized 
deck-house.  Dr.  Taylor  ( Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Jan., 
1847,  pp.  1-78),  says  that  the  name  jangar  is  still  used  on  the  Malabar 
coast  for  these  double  canoes.  Caldwell  gives  the  forms  changadam 
in  Malayalam;  jangala  in  Tulu;  and  samghadam  in  Sanscrit,  “a 
raft.”  Benfey  (art.  on  India  in  Ersch  & Gruber’s  Encyklopadie,  307) 
derives  it  from  the  Sanscrit  sangara,  meaning  trade;”  Lassen,  how- 
ever (II,  543 ),  doubts  the  application  of  the  word  to  shipping,  and 
Heeren  ( Ideen  iiber  die  Politik,  etc.,  I,  iii,  361)  ascribes  the  word  to 
a Malay  original.  This  is  quite  possible,  as  the  type  itself  is  Malay, 
and  found  throughout  the  archipelago. 


Modem  double  canoe  with  deck-structure,  of  the  sangara  type;  in  general 
use  in  South  India,  Ceylon,  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago. 


The  comparatively  large  size  of  the  shipping  on  the  Coromandel 
coast  is  indicated  also  by  the  Andhra  coinage,  on  which  a frequent 
symbol  is  a ship  with  two  masts,  apparently  of  considerable  tonnage. 


244 


The  maritime  traffic,  to  which  the  ship  type  bears  witness,  is  also 
attested  by  the  large  numbers  of  Roman  coins  which  are  found  on  the 
Coromandel  Coast.  (E.  J.  Rapson,  Coins  of  the  Andhra  Dynasty, 
lxxxii ). 

Early  South  Indian  Coins 

(re-drawn  and  restored  from  Elliot,  Coins  of  Southern  India ) 

Plate  I,  fig.  38  Plate  II,  fig.  45 


Kurumbar  or  Pallava  coin  of  the 
Coromandel  coast;  showing  a two- 
masted  ship  like  the  modern  coasting 
vessel  or  d’ honi. 


Andhra  coin,  showing  a two-masted 
ship  presenting  details  like  those  of 
the  Gujarati  ship  at  Boroboedor,  and 
the  Persian  ship  at  Ajanta. 


The  shipping  of  the  Andhra  and  Pallava  coins  doubtless  survives 
in  the  modern  “masula  boats”  at  Madras: 

“The  harbor  (of  Madras)  can  never  be  a harbor  of  refuge,  and 
all  that  the  works  will  secure'  is  immunity  for  landing  and  shipping 
operations  from  the  tremendousvsurf  vvhich  is  so  general  along  the 
whole  of  the  Coromandel  coast.  ..  . . Passenger  traffic  from  the 
shore  to  the  vessels  is  carried  on  by  jolly-boats  from  the  pier,  or  masulah 
boats  from  the  shore.  These  latter  arer*relics  of  a bygone  day,  when 
Madras  was  an  open  roadstead  ^and  when  landing  through  the  surf  by 
any  form  of  jolly-boat  was  a matter  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible. These  masulah  boats  are  flat-bottomed  barges  constructed  of 
planks  sewn  together  with  rope  of  cocoanut  fibre,  caulked  with  oakum, 
and  are  able  to  withstand  better  than  far  more  solidly  built  craft  the 
shock  of  being  landed  on.  the  sandy  beach  from  the  crest  of  a seething 


breaker.”  (Eurneaux,  India , 254.) 


245 


Similar  in  a general  way  to  the  Andhra  coin-symbol  is  the  Guja- 
rati ship  carved  in  bas-relief  on  the  frieze  of  the  Buddhist  temple  at 
Boroboedor  in  Java.  While  dating  from  about  600  A.  D.,  this  vessel 
was  probably  not  different  from  those  of  the  1st  century,  while  the 
short  broad  sail  with  double  yards  is  identical  with  those  of  the 
Egyptian  Punt  Expedition  of  the  15th  century  B.  C. 


Gujarati  ship  of  about  600  A.  D.  ; from  the  Boroboedor  frieze.  Ships  of 
this  type  were  doubtless  included  among  the  trappaga  and  cotymba  of  § 44,  which 
piloted  merchants  into  Barvgaza. 


“In  the  year  525  (Saka  era,  = 603  A.  D.),  it  being  foretold  to 
a king  of  Gujarat  that  his  country  would  decay  and  go  to  ruin,  he 
resolved  to  send  his  son  to  Java.  He  embarked  with  about  5000 
followers  in  6 large  and  about  100  small  vessels,  and  after  a voyage  of 
four  months  reached  an  island  they  supposed  to  be  Java;  but  finding 
themselves  mistaken,  re-embarked,  and  finally  settled  at  Mata  re  m,  in 
the  center  of  the  island  they  were  seeking.  . . . The  prince  now 
found  that  men  alone  were  wanting  to  make  a great  and  flourishing 
state.  He  accordingly  applied  to  Gujarat  for  assistance,  when  his 
father,  delighted  at  his  success,  sent  him  a reinforcement  of  2000 
people.  . . . From  this  period  Java'  was  known  and  celebrated  as  a 
kingdom;  an  extensive  commerce  was  carried  on  with  Gujarat  and 
other  countries,  and  the  bay  of  Matarem  was  filled  with  adventurers 
from  all  parts. ” (Sir  Stamford  Raffles,  History  of  Java,  II,  87  ff . ) 


246 


60.  Colandia: — This  name  seems  to  be  of  Malay  origin,  and 
perhaps  means  no  more  than  “ship.”  Koleh  panjail , “sailing  ship,” 
is  the  name  for  the  fast  fishermen  entered  in  modern  Singapore  re- 
gattas. (Pritchett,  Sketches  of  Shipping  and  Craft , 166.) 

The  text  is  kolandiophonta,  generally  supposed  to  be  corrupt,  the 
onta  being  the  present  participle  of  “to  be.”  But  Rajendralala 
Mitra  ( Antiquities  of  Orissa,  I,  115)  derives  the  word  from  the  San- 
scrit kolantarapota,  “ships  for  going  to  foreign  shores.” 


Burmese  laung-zSt,  (without  rigging) ; a carvel-built  vessel  on  the  same  lines 
as  the  dug-out  laung-go  for  river  use.  The  larger  type,  in  general  use  on  the 
Chindwin  River,  shows  Chinese  influence,  although  the  lines  are  those  of  ancient 
Egypt.  This  type  displays  the  stern-cabins  differently  arranged  from  those  in 
the  higher-built  Chinese  junk.  See  also  Chatterton,  Sailing  Ships,  7,  31. 

The  colandia  which  made  the  voyage  to  Chryse  and  were  of  great 
size,  must  have  been  similar  to  the  Chinese  junks  or  the  Burmese 
laung-scat,  kattu  or  Chindwin  traders.  The  sea-trade  of  the  Gulf  of 
Tonkin  was  of  very  early  date.  Chinese  annals  mention  voyages  to 
Malacca  prior  to  the  Christian  era,  and  probably  as  early  as  the  12th 
century  B.  C.  This  region,  known  to  the  Chinese  as  Yue-chang, 
was  independent  until  the  extension  of  the  Chinese  boundaries  under 
the  Han  dynasty  (2d  century  B.  C.).  The  compass,  or  “south- 
pointing chariot,”  was  known  in  the  11th  century  B.  C. , but,  as  indi- 


247 


cated  by  Hirth  ( Ancient  History  of  China , pp.  126-136),  was  probably 
used  mainly  for  geomancy  until  applied  to  navigation  by  Persians  and 
Arabs  visiting  China  in  the  6th  and  7th  centuries  A.  D.  The  Chinese 
themselves  steered  by  the  stars  and  the  sun,  and  by  observing  the 
nature  of  the  sea-bottom. 


Model  of  an  early  type  of  Chinese  junk,  showing  the  individual  cabins  in  the 
stem-structure,  each  occupied  by  a merchant  with  his  stock  of  goods,  as  told  by 
Marco  Polo;  from  the  serial  collection  of  models  of  commercial  shipping,  exhib- 
ited in  the  Commercial  Museum,  Philadelphia. 

The  Arabian  geographer  Mas’udi  mentions  Chinese  junks  which 
came  to  Bassora  in  his  time,  and  in  the  cave-paintings  at  Ajanta, 


248 


commemorative  of  the  visit  of  a Persian  embassy  in  the  early  7th  cen- 
tury, a ship  is  shown  which,  if  not  a junk,  is  manifestly  influenced  by 
that  type  of  vessel.  (See  Torr,  Ancient  Ships,  plate  VII,  fig.  40.) 

Marco  Polo  (Book  III,  Chap.  I)  gives  a detailed  description  of 
the  junks  of  that  day:  (Yule’s  edition  II,  249-51.) 

“The  ships  in  which  merchants  go  to  and  fro  amongst  the  Isles 
of  India,  are  of  fir  timber.  They  have  but  one  deck,  though  each  of 
them  contains  some  50  or  60  cabins,  wherein  the  merchants  abide 
greatly  at  their  ease,  every  man  having  one  to  himself.  The  ship 
hath  but  one  rudder,  but  it  hath  four  masts;  and  sometimes  they  have 
two  additional  masts,  which  they  ship  and  unship  at  pleasure.  . . . 

“The  larger  of  their  vessels  have  some  thirteen  compartments  or 
severances  in  the  interior,  made  with  planking  strongly  framed,  in 
case  mayhap  the  ship  should  spring  aleak.  . . 

“The  fastenings  are  all  of  good  iron  nails  and  the  sides  are 
double,  one  plank  laid  over  the  other,  and  caulked  outside  and  in  . . . 
with  lime  and  chopped  hemp,  kneaded  together  with  wood-oil. 

“Each  of  their  great  ships  requires  at  least  200  mariners,  some 
of  them  300.  They  are  indeed  of  great  size,  for  one  ship  shall  carry 
5000  or  6000  baskets  of  pepper;  and  they  used  formerly  to  be  larger 
than  they  are  now.  And  when  there  is  no  wind  they  use  sweeps,  so 
big  that  to  pull  them  requires  four  mariners  to  each.  . . . Every  great 
ship  has  certain  large  barks  or  tenders  attached  to  it;  these  are  large 
enough  to  carry  1000  baskets  of  pepper,  and  carry  50  or  60  mariners 
apiece;  some  of  them  80  or  100.’’  So  Fa-Hien  left  Ceylon  in  “a 
large  merchantman,  on  board  of  which  there  were  more  than  200 
men,  and  to  which  was  attached,  by  a rope,  a smaller  vessel,  as  a 
provision  against  damage  or  injury  to  the  large  one  from  the  perils  of 
the  navigation.”  ( Travels , chap.  xi. ) And  landing  from  this  vessel 
in  Java-dvipa,  where  he  spent  five  months,  he  “again  embarked  in 
another  large  merchantman,  which  also  had  on  board  more  than  200 
men.  They  carried  provisions  for  50  days.’  ’ 

(See  Yule’s  Marco  Polo,  II,  252-3,  for  description  of  junks  in 
other  mediaeval  writers;  also,  for  a full  account  of  Burmese  ship- 
building, primitive  and  modern,  Ferrars,  Burma,  132-8.) 

60.  Imported  . . everything. — Yule,  in  his  Marco  Polo  (II, 
333),  quotes  from  the  Arab  geographer  Wassaf:  “Maabar  extends  in 
length  from  Quilon  to  Nellore,  nearly  300  parasangs  along  the  sea- 
coast.  The  curiosities  of  Chin  and  Machin,  and  the  beautiful  prod- 
ucts of  Hind  and  Sind,  laden  on  large  ships  which  they  call  Junks, 
sailing  like  mountains  with  the  wings  of  the  wind  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  are  always  arriving  there.  The  wealth  of  the  Isles  of  the 


249 


Persian  Gulf  in  particular,  and  in  part  the  beauty  and  adornment  of 
other  countries,  from  Irak  and  Khurasan  as  far  as  Rum  and  Europe, 
are  derived  from  Maabar,  which  is  so  situated  as  to  be  the  key  of 
Hind. 

Marco  himself  (III,  xx)  calls  Chdla  “the  kingdom  of  Maabar 
called  Soli,  which  is  the  best  and  noblest  province  in  India,  and  where 
the  best  pearls  are  found.  ” 

Friar  Odoric  (chap,  iv)  says  of  this  kingdom:  “The  king  of 
the  said  region  is  most  rich  in  gold,  silver  and  precious  stones,  and 
and  there  be  the  fairest  unions  (pearls)  in  all  the  world.” 

61.  Palaesimundu. — This  is  the  modern  Ceylon.  According 
to  Lassen  (I,  201)  this  word  is  the  Sanscrit  Palisimanta , “abode  of 
the  law  of  piety;”  that  is,  the  Dharma  of  Gautama  Buddha.  The 
distinction  is  of  interest;  “by  the  ancients’’  it  was  called  Taprobane , 
which  is  the  Sanscrit  Tamraparni , the  name  given  to  it  in  the  Rama- 
yana.  The  knowledge  concerning  Ceylon  which  reached  the  west 
through  Onesicritus,  Eratosthenes  and  Strabo,  was  of  the  island  before 
its  conversion  to  Buddhism  under  the  missionary  zeal  of  Asoka.  Our 
author  speaks  of  it  in  the  time  of  its  greatest  devotion  to  the  new 
religion,  which  its  neighbors  the  Dravidian  kingdoms  of  Southern 
India  never  fully  accepted. 

According  to  McCrindle  ( Ancient  India,  20,  160),  the  name 
Taprobane , or  Tamraparni , was  given  by  Vijaya,  who  led  the  first  Indian 
colony  into  the  island,  and  applied  to  the  place  where  he  first  landed. 
The  name  means  “copper-colored;”  compare  Tamra-lipti , the  sea- 
port town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges.  The  Pali  form,  Tambapanni , 
appears  in  the  inscription  of  Asoka  at  Girnar.  Another  Brahmanical 
name,  Dvipa  Rdvana , “island  of  Ravana,”  (the  demon-king,  kid- 
napper of  Slta  in  the  Ramayana) , is  thought  by  some  to  be  the  origin 
of  Taprobane. 

Ptolemy  notes  that  the  ancient  name  was  Simundu  (mistaking  the 
first  two  syllables  of  our  author’ s word  Palaesimundu  for  the  Greek 
palai),  but  in  his  own  time  Salike,  the  country  of  the  Sake.  Cosmas 
Indicopleustes  called  it  Sielediba ; which,  as  McCrindle  notes,  is 
through  the  Pali  the  true  Sanscrit  name  for  the  island:  Sinhala-dvipa , 
“island  of  the  lions,”  or  lion-like  men-heroes.  “To  this  source 
may  be  traced  its  other  names,  Serendib,  Sylan,  and  Ceylon.” 

Pliny  knows  the  name  Palcesimundus  (VI,  24)  but  applies  it  to  a 
city  “adjoining  the  harbor  that  lies  facing  the  south,”  and  calls  it 
“the  most  famous  city  in  the  island,  the  king’s  place  of  residence, 
containing  a population  of  200,000.  ” But  there  is  no  harbor  on  the 
south  coast  of  Ceylon,  and  Pliny  seems  to  be  confusing  his  city  and 


250 


harbor  with  the  actual  position  of  the  island  in  relation  to  the  ancient 
harbor,  now  lost,  at  Cape  Comorin. 

In  the  Ramayana  the  Sinhalese  are  referred  to  as  rakshas  and 
nagas,  demons  and  spirits,  not  human  because  racially  opposed  to  the 
Aryan  invaders.  So  Fa-Hien  describes  them  in  an  interesting  passage 
relating  to  their  trade  ( Travels,  chap,  xxxviii)  : “the  country  originally 
had  no  human  inhabitants,  but  was  occupied  only  by  spirits  and  nagas, 
with  which  merchants  of  various  countries  carried  on  a trade.  When 
trafficking  was  taking  place,  the  spirits  did  not  show  themselves.  They 
simply  set  forth  their  precious  things  with  labels  of  the  price  attached 
to  them;  while  the  merchants  made  their  purchases  according  to  the 
price;  and  took  the  things  away.”  And  he  found  in  the  capital  city 
“many  Vaisya  clans  and  Sabaean  merchants,  whose  houses  are  stately 
and  beautiful. 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes  ( Christian  Topography,  book  XI),  tells  of 
Ceylon  and  its  trade  in  the  6th  century  A.  D. ; his  account  amplifies 
what  is  said  in  the  Periplus,  and  a translation  is  appended  for  com- 
parison: 

“This  is  the  great  island  of  the  ocean,  situated  in  the  Indian  Sea; 
which  is  called  by  the  Indians  Sielediba,  by  the  Greeks  Taprobane, 
where  the  hyacinthus  stone  is  found;  and  it  lies  beyond  the  pepper 
country.  It  has  other  small  islands  scattered  around  it  in  great  num- 
ber; of  which  some  have  fresh  water,  and  cocoanut  palms.  They 
are  very  close  to  one  another.  But  that  great  island,  so  its  inhabitants 
say,  is  300  leagues  in  length,  and  in  breadth  about  90  miles.  Two 
kings  reign  in  the  island,  hostile  to  each  other;  of  whom  one  has  the 
region  of  the  hyacinthus,  and  the  other  the  rest  of  the  island,  in  which 
is  the  market-town  and  port.  It  is  frequented  by  a great  press  of 
merchants  from  far  countries.  In  that  island  is  established  the  Church 
of  Christ,  of  the  sect  of  the  Persians,  and  there  is  a presbyter  sent 
from  Persia,  and  a deacon,  and  the  whole  service  of  the  church.  But 
the  natives,  and  the  kings,  are  of  other  faiths.  Many  temples  are  to 
be  seen  in  this  island;  on  the  top  of  one  of  them,  they  say,  is  a hya- 
cinthus, in  full  view,  sparkling  and  very  great,  like  a great  spinning- 
top;  and  it  shines  brightly,  sending  out  fiery  rays  almost  like  the  sun 
itself,  a marvellous  sight.  From  all  parts  of  India,  Persia  and  Aethi- 
opia  come  a multitude  of  ships  to  this  island,  which  is  placed  as  it 
were  midway  between  all  lands;  and  it  sends  ships  likewise  hither 
and  thither  in  all  directions. 

“From  the  inner  regions,  that  is,  from  Tzinista  and  from  the 
other  market-towns,  are  brought  silk  cloth,  aloe-wood,  cloves, 
and  sandalwood,  and  other  products  according  to  the  place;  and  it 


251 


forwards  them  to  those  of  the  outside,  that  is,  to  Male,  in  which 
pepper  grows;  to  Calliana,  where  brass  is  found,  and  sesamin  wood, 
and  various  kinds  of  cloth  (for  it,  too,  is  a great  market-town);  and 
to  Sindu,  where  the  castor  musk  is  found,  and  spikenard;  and  to 
Persia,  to  the  country  of  the  Homerites,  and  Adulis;  and  in  return 
it  receives  other  things  from  all  these  places,  which  it  transmits  to  the 
inner  regions,  with  its  own  products  likewise.  Now  Sindu  is  the 
beginning  of  India;  for  the  river  Indus,  which  empties  into  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  separates  Persia  from  India.  These  are  the  best-known 
market-towns  of  India : Sindu,  Orrhotha,  Calliana,  Sibor,  and  Male 
which  has  five  ports  to  which  pepper  is  brought;  Parti,  Mangarouth, 
Salopatana,  Nalopatana,  Pudapatana.  And  then,  at  a distance  of 
about  five  days  and  nights  from  the  mainland,  out  in  the  ocean,  is 
Sielediba,  that  is,  Taprobane.  Then  again,  on  the  mainland,  is  a 
market-town,  Marallo,  shipping  conch-shells;  and  there  is  Kaber, 
shipping  alabandenum,  and  then  the  country  from  which  cloves  are 
shipped;  and  then  Tzinista,  which  sends  silk  cloth;  within  which 
there  is  no  other  land,  for  the  ocean  encircles  it  on  the  east. 

“And  so  this  island  Sielediba,  placed  in  the  midst  of  India,  which 
produces  the  hyacinthus,  receives  goods  from  all  markets  and  ships  to 
all,  being  itself  a very  great  market.  And  there  came  thither  on  matters 
of  trade  one  from  our  own  parts,  named  Sopater,  who  died  about  35 
years  ago.  And  his  business  took  him  to  the  island  of  Taprobane, 
where  it  happened  that  a vessel  arrived  at  the  same  time  from  Persia, 
and  there  landed  together  those  from  Adulis,  among  whom  was 
Sopater,  and  those  from  Persia,  among  whom  was  an  ambassador 
of  the  Persians.  And  so,  as  the  custom  was,  the  captains  and 
tax-collectors  receiving  them,  brought  them  before  the  king.  And 
being  admitted  into  the  presence  of  the  king,  after  they  had  offered 
the  proper  homage,  he  bade  them  be  seated.  And  then  he  asked 
them:  “How  goes  it  with  your  countries,  and  how  with  your  trade 
and  commerce?”  “Excellently  well,”  they  said.  Replying,  the 
king  asked,  “Who,  of  your  kings,  is  the  greatest  and  most  power- 
ful?” Without  delay  the  Persian  answered:  “Ours  is  the  most 
powerful,  the  greatest  and  the  richest;  he  is  the  king  of  kings;  and 
he  has  power  to  do  whatever  he  wills.”  But  Sopater  was  silent. 
Then  said  the  king,  “You,  Roman,  have  you  nothing  to  say?” 
And  Sopater  replied,  “What  have  I to  say,  when  this  man  says  such 
things?  If  you  wish  to  learn  the  truth,  you  have  both  kings  here; 
examine  them,  and  you  will  see  which  one  is  the  most  magnificent 
and  the  most  powerful.  But  the  king  was  amazed  at  this  speech, 
and  said,  “How  have  I both  kings  here?’ ’ And  he  answered,  “You 


252 


have  the  money  of  both;  you  have  the  gold  coin  of  the  one  king, 
and  the  drachma  of  the  other,  that  is,  the  milliarense;  compare  the 
images  of  both,  and  you  will  see  the  truth.  ” And  he,  approving 
and  assenting,  bade  that  both  be  produced.  . Now  the  gold  coin  was 
fine,  bright,  and  well-shaped;  for  thus  are  the  best  exported  thither; 
and  the  milliarense  was  of  silver  and  I need  hardly  say,  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  gold  coin.  The  king  looked  at  both  obverse  and 
reverse,  and  then  at  the  other;  and  held  forth  the  gold  coin  with 
admiration,  saying,  “Truly  the  Romans  are  magnificent  and  powerful 
and  wise.”  And  he  commanded  that  Sopater  should  be  treated  with 
honor;  that  he  should  be  seated  upon  an  elephant,  and  led  around 
the  whole  city  with  drums,  and  acclaimed.  This  Sopater  told  me, 
and  those  also  from  Adulis,  who  voyaged  with  him  to  that  island. 
And  when  these  things  happened,  so  they  say,  the  Persian  was  greatly 
ashamed.  ” 

61.  Almost  touches  Azania. — Our  author’s  ideas  of  the 
world  in  general  are  similar  to  those  of  Pomponius  Mela,  with  whom 
he  was  nearly  contemporary;  whose  map  (reproduced  on  p.  100) 
retains  the  old  idea  of  a balancing  southern  “continent  of  the  Antich- 
thones,  ” with  the  eastern  end  of  which  he  identifies  Taprobane. 
The  Periplus  does  not  indicate  quite  that  extent  for  Ceylon,  but  ex- 
aggerates its  size  tenfold.  The  confusion  may  have  been  partly  due 
to  the  grandiloquent  descriptions  left  by  the  Ceylonese  embassy  which 
visited  the  Emperor  Augustus.  (See  Bunbury,  History  of  Ancient 
Geography , Vol.  II.  ) 

62.  Masalia. — This  is  the  Maisolia  of  Ptolemy,  who  has  a 
river  Maisolos,  probably  the  Kistna.  In  Sanscrit,  as  McCrindle  shows, 
the  name  is  Mausala,  which  survives  in  Machhlipatana,  the  modern 
Masulipatam  (16°  11'  N. , 81°  8'  E. ),  until  the  construction  of  the 
Bombay  railway  the  chief  port  of  entry  for  the  Deccan.  At  the  date 
of  the  Periplus  it  was,  no  doubt,  the  greatest  market  of  the  Andhra 
kingdom.  Tavernier  found  it  (I,  xi)  “the  best  anchorage  in  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  and  the  only  place  from  which  vessels  sail  for  Pegu, 
Siam,  Arakan,  Bengal,  Cochinchina,  Mecca,  and  Hormus,  as  also 
for  the  islands  of  Madagascar,  Sumatra,  and  the  Manillas.  ” 

The  text  notes  the  great  quantity  of  cotton  cloth  made  there. 
In  Tavernier’s  time  it  was  especially  noted  for  its  painted,  or  pen- 
cilled, chintzes  (II,  xii)  “called  calmendar,  that  is  to  say,  made  with 
a brush.”  He  contrasted  these  fine  hand-painted  fabrics  with  the 
coarse  printed  goods  from  Bengal.  The  supply,  he  observes,  was  never 
equal  to  the  demand. 

See  also  Imperial  Gazetteer,  XVII,  215. 


253 


The  difficulties  of  travel  through  the  Andhra  kingdom  are  noted 
under  § 50.  Fa-Hien  also  found  the  kingdom  of  Dakshina  “out  of 
the  way  and  perilous  to  traverse.  There  are  difficulties  in  connection 
with  the  roads;  but  those  who  know  how  to  manage  such  difficulties 
and  wish  to  proceed  should  bring  with  them  money  and  various 
articles  and  give  them  to  the  king.  He  will  send  men  to  escort  them. 
These  will,  at  different  stages,  pass  them  over  to  others,  who  will 
show  them  the  shortest  routes.  ” ( Travels,  xxxv.  ) 

62.  Dosarene. — This  is  the  Sanscrit  Dasarna,  the  modern 
Orissa,  the  “Holy  Land  of  India.”  The  name  appears  in  the  Vishnu 
Purana  and  the  Ramayana,  as  a populous  and  powerful  country. 
Ptolemy  mentions  also  a river  Dosaron,  the  modern  Mahanadi.  The 
ivory  from  this  region  has  long  been  famous.  It  is  mentioned  both 
in  the  Mahabharata  and  the  Vishnu  Purana,  as  the  most  acceptable 
offering  which  the  “king  of  the  Odras”  could  take  to  the  Pandu 
sovereign.  (See  also  Mitra,  Antiquities  of  Orissa,  I,  6.) 

62.  Cirrhadae. — This  was  a Bhota  tribe,  whose  descendants, 
still  known  as  Kirata,  live  in  the  Morung,  west  of  Sikkim.  They 
are  of  Turanian  race,  with  marked  Mongolian  features  as  described; 
and  were  formerly  independent  and  powerful,  having  provided  a dy- 
nasty of  considerable  duration  in  Nepal.  Their  location  is  not  on  the 
sea,  as  indicated  by  the  text,  but  in  the  valleys  of  the  Himalayas;  we 
need  only  omit  the  words  “the  course  trending,  ” easily  inserted  by  a 
scribe,  to  make  our  author’s  information  correct.  T he  Mahabharata 
locates  them  on  the  Brahmaputra. 

Lassen  (I,  441-450)  fully  describes  the  Bhota  race,  whose  name 
survives  in  the  modern  Bhutan.  They  were  allied  to  the  Tibetans, 
and  inhabited  much  of  Bengal  at  the  time  of  the  Aryan  migration. 
Lassen  names  ten  different  tribes,  one  being  the  Kirata.  Their  native 
capital  was  at  Mokwanpur  in  Eastern  Nepal.  They  were  a warlike, 
uncultivated,  polygamous  race,  whose  native  animism  yielded  imper- 
fectly to  Brahman  or  Buddhist  teaching,  and  w'hose  neglect  of  religious 
rites  caused  the  Brahman  Hindus  to  reduce  them  to  the  rank  of 
Sudras.  Hence  the  contemptuous  description  of  their  Mongolian 
faces  as  “noseless.”  Pliny  calls  them  Scyrites  (VII,  2),  and  says 
“they  have  merely  holes  in  their  heads  instead  of  nostrils,  and  flexible 
feet,  like  the  body  of  a serpent.”  Ptolemy  calls  their  country  Kir- 
rhadia. 

The  Kirata  were  under-sized,  and  by  the  Aryan  Hindus  were 
called  ’pigmies.’’  In  the  Brahman  mythology  there  was  a bird  of 
Vishnu,  called  Garuda,  who  was  a special  enemy  of  the  Kirata,  and 


254 


Lassen  (II,  657)  thinks  this  story  the  original  of  the  battle  between 
pigmies  and  cranes,  in  Hesiod  and  other  Greek  writers. 

JVIegasthenes  relates  the  story  in  some  detail,  and  is  reproved  by 
Strabo  (XV,  i,  57):  “he  then  deviates  into  fables,  and  says  that  there 
are  men  of  five,  and  even  three  spans  in  height,  some  of  whom  are 
without  nostrils,  with  only  two  breathing  orifices  above  the  mouth. 
Those  of  three  spans  in  height  wage  war  with  the  cranes  (described 
by  Homer)  and  with  the  partridges,  which  are  as  large  as  geese; 
these  people  collect  and  destroy  the  eggs  of  the  cranes  which  lay  their 
eggs  there;  and  nowhere  else  are  the  eggs  or  the  young  cranes  to  be 
found;  frequently  a crane  escapes  from  this  country  with  a brazen 
point  of  a weapon  in  its  body,  wounded  by  these  people.” 

This  tribe  is  especially  referred  to  in  one  of  the  Kavyas,  called 
Kiratarjumya,  which  recounts  the  combat,  first  mentioned  in  the  Ala- 
habharata , between  Siva  in  the  guise  of  a Kirata,  or  mountaineer,  and 
Arjuna. 

62.  Bargysi. — These  are  the  Bhargas  of  the  Vishnu  Purana, 
there  mentioned  as  neighbors  of  the  Kirata,  and  doubtless  of  like  race. 
(Taylor,  Remarks  on  the  Sequel  to  the  Periplus,  in  Journal  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bengal,  Jan.  1847.) 

62.  Horse-faces  and  Long-faces. — This  is  no  invention 
of  our  author,  but  was  no  doubt  told  him  by  some  friend  at  Nelcynda, 
who  spoke  by  his  book — the  Sanscrit  writings.  The  Aryans  professed 
the  greatest  contempt  for  the  Tibeto-Burman  races  at  their  eastern 
frontier,  and  their  references  to  them  are  full  of  exaggeration  and 
fable.  The  Vara  Sanhita  Purana  mentions  a people  “in  the  moun- 
tains east  of  India,”  that  is,  in  the  hills  on  the  Assam-Burma  frontier, 
called  Asvavadana,  “horse-faced.” 

(Taylor,  op.  cit. ; so  Wilford  in  Asiatic  Researches,  VIII  and  IX.) 

62.  Said  to  be  Cannibals. — Herodotus  notices  such  a custom 
among  the  “other  Indians,  living  to  the  east,  who  are  nomads  and 
eat  raw  flesh,  who  are  called  Padaeans.”  (Ill,  99.)  “When  any 
one  of  the  community  is  sick,  whether  it  be  a woman  or  a man,  if  it 
be  a man  the  men  who  are  his  nearest  connections  put  him  to  death, 
alleging  that  if  he  wasted  by  disease  his  flesh  would  be  spoiled;  but 
if  he  denies  that  he  is  sick,  they,  not  agreeing  with  him,  kill  and  feast 
upon  him.  And  if  a woman  be  sick,  in  like  manner  the  women  who 
are  most  intimate  with  her  do  the  same  as  the  men.  And  whoever 
reaches  old  age,  they  sacrifice  and  feast  upon;  but  few  among  them 
attain  this  state,  for  before  that  they  put  to  death  every  one  that  falls 
into  any  distemper.” 


255 


So  Tibullus  (IV,  i,  45),  “Ultima  vicinus  Phoebo  tenet  Arva  Pa- 
daeus;”  and  Strabo  (XV,  i,  56),  quoting  Megasthenes’  account  of 
Indian  mountaineers  “who  eat  the  bodies  of  their  relatives.” 

The  same  practices  were  said  by  Dr.  Taylor  to  be  followed  a 
couple  of  generations  ago  by  the  Kukis,  or  Kuki  Chin,  a Tibeto- 
Burman  tribe  in  the  Chin  Hills  between  Assam  and  Burma;  the  sick 
and  aged  were  killed  and  eaten  because  of  the  belief  that  by  such 
means  their  souls  remained  in  the  tribe,  and  were  preserved  from  the 
agonies  of  transmigration  into  the  bodies  of  animals. 

The  name  of  “Padaeans”  is  probably  meant  for  Purushada,  under 
which  they  appear  in  the  Vara  Sanhita  Parana. 

63.  Ganges. — The  name  is  applied  in  the  same  paragraph  to 
district,  river  and  town.  By  the  district  is  meant  Bengal;  by  the 
river,  more  especially  the  Hughli  estuary,  but  east  of  Ganga-Sagar 
island  and  not  west  of  it,  as  at  present.  This,  until  about  the  15th 
century,  was  the  largest  mouth  of  the  Ganges;  the  Hughli  river  and 
Sagar  island  were  the  sacred  places,  and  still  retain  their  sanctity.  This 
ancient  mouth,  the  Adi  Ganga,  silted  up,  and  the  river  constantly 
tending  eastward,  finally  joined  its  main  channel  to  that  of  the  Brahma- 
putra, emptying  into  the  Meghna  estuary  as  at  present  ( Imp . Gaz., 
XII,  133-4  J.  By  the  town  of  Ganges  is  probably  meant  Tamra-lipti, 
the  modern  Tamluk  (22°  18'  N.,  87°  56’  E. ),  which  gave  its  name 
to  the  Tamra-parnI  river  in  the  Pandya  kingdom,  and  to  the  island  of 
Ceylon.  This  was  the  sea-port  of  Bengal  in  the  Post-Vedic  and 
Buddhist  periods,  being  frequently  mentioned  in  the  great  epics.  It 
was  the  port  of  the  “ Bangalis,  who  trusted  in  their  ships,”  who  were 
conquered  by  the  hero  of  Kalidasa’s  Raghuvamsa.  Here  it  was  that 
Fa-Hien  sojourned  two  years,  after  which  he  embarked  in  “a  large 
merchant  vessel,  and  went  floating  over  the  sea  to  the  southwest  . . . 
to  the  country  of  Singhala.” 

This  identification,  which  is  supported  by  many  scholars,  seems 
preferable  to  that  of  Fergusson  and  Dr.  Taylor,  who  would  place 
Tamra-lipti  at  the  modern  Sonargaon  (23°  40’  N.,  90°  36’  E. ),  the 
ancient  Suvarnagrama,  the  chief  port  of  Eastern  Bengal  under  the  Gupta 
Empire  and  in  the  middle  ages.  Near  here  was  Vikramapura,  the 
modern  Bikrampur,  one  of  the  capitals  of  Chandragupta  Vikrama- 
ditya.  But  its  importance  does  not  seem  to  date  from  so  early  a 
period  as  that  of  the  Periplus;  while  it  is  more  likely  that  the  name 
of  Ganges  would  have  been  localized  on  the  sacred,  and  at  that  time 
the  principal,  estuary. 

Strabo  has  been  accused  of  ignorance  for  remarking  (XV,  i,  13) 
that  the  Ganges  “ discharges  its  waters  by  a single  mouth.”  But  his 


256 


information  probably  reflects  the  esteem  in  which  that  mouth  was  held, 
as  well  as  its  predominant  size,  in  his  time 

63.  Malabathrum. — This  was  from  the  Eastern  Himalayas, 
the  greatest  source  of  supply,  as  noted  under  § 65.  Ptolemy,  also, 
says  ‘the  best  malabathrum  is  produced  in  the  country  of  the 
Cirrhadae.  ” 

63.  Gangetic  Spikenard. — This  was  probably  the  true  spike- 
nard, from  the  Himalayas,  noted  under  § 49,  and  valued  sufficiently 
to  be  shipped  in  considerable  quantity  to  Nelcynda,  where  the  Romans 
found  it  (§  56). 

Pliny  describes  another  kind  from  the  Ganges  (XII,  26)  which 
“is  altogether  condemned,  as  being  good  for  nothing;  it  bears  the 
name  of  ozcnnitis,  and  emits  a fetid  odor.”  This,  as  Watt  remarks 
(pp.  451,  462,  792),  was  a variety  of  Cymbopogon  or  Andropogon , 
allied  to  the  “ nard  root”  of  § 39;  probably  Cymbopogon  jwarancusa. 
These  species,  the  lemon-grass,  ginger-grass,  citronella,  etc.,  all  yield 
aromatic  oils,  and  until  recently  have  been  much  confused. 

Pliny  confuses  this  grass  also  with  malabathrum,  which,  he  re- 
marks (XII,  59),  “ is  said  to  grow  in  the  marshes  like  the  lentil.” 

63.  Pearls.— These  were  not  of  the  best  quality';  as  Dr.  Taylor 
remarks,  those  of  the  Ganges  streams  are  inferior,  being  small,  often 
irregular,  and  usually  reddish. 

63.  Muslins  of  the  finest  sort,  called  Gangetic. — These 
are  the  muslins  of  the  Dacca  district,  the  most  delicate  of  all  the 
fabrics  of  India,  an  ancient  test  of  which  was  for  the  piece  to  be 
drawn  through  a finger-ring.  Ventus  textilis,  or  nebula , were  names 
under  which  the  Romans  knew  of  them.  They  are  mentioned  in 
the  Institutes  of  Manu,  in  a way  to  show  the  organization  of  the 
industry:  “let  a weaver  who  has  received  10  pa/as  of  cotton  thread 
give  them  back  increased  to  eleven,  by  the  rice-water  and  the  like  used 
in  weaving;  he  who  does  otherwise  shall  pay  a fine  of  10  panas . ” 

Tavernier  tells  of  a Persian  ambassador  who  took  his  sovereign, 
on  returning  home,  “a  cocoanut  of  the  size  of  an  ostrich’s  egg,  en- 
riched with  precious  stones;  and  when  it  was  opened  a turban  was 
drawn  from  it  60  cubits  in  length,  and  of  a muslin  so  fine  that  you 
would  scarcely  know  that  you  had  it  in  your  hand.” 

The  history  of  cotton  spinning  in  India  goes  back  to  remote 
antiquity,  being  associated  with  the  Vedic  gods  or  goddesses  who  are 
described  and  pictured  as  wearing  woven  garments.  The  patterns  of 
such  garments,  showing  great  skill  in  both  woven  and  tinted  design,  are 
abundantly  reproduced  from  early  temples  in  Mitra  (Antiquities  cf 


257 


Orissa,  Vol.  II),  from  whence  it  appears  certain  that  the  cotton  tex- 
tile industry  at  the  time  of  the  Christian  era  was  far  in  advance  of 
that  of  any  of  the  western  countries. 

While  cotton  may  possibly  have  been  spun  first  in  Turkestan,  it 
seems  more  likely  that  it  has  always  been  native  in  the  Indian  penin- 
sula and  that  the  Aryan  invaders  found  the  cultivation  and  industry 
both  well  established.  The  early  Vedas , for  example,  referred  prin- 
cipally to  woolen  cloth  of  various  kinds,  some  doubtless  of  fine 
quality,  such  as  are  still  made  in  Kashmir.  In  the  Rig  Veda  the 
material  used  in  clothing  is  not  specified. 

The  Mahabharata — in  the  Sabha  Parva — enumerates  presents 
brought  to  Yudhisthira: 

Cloths  and  skins;  the  former  of  wool  and  embroidered  with 
gold,  shawls  and  brocades-  the  latter  marten  and  weasel;  blankets  of 
various  manufacture  by  the  Abhiras  of  Gujarat;  cloths  not  of  cotton, 
but  of  sheep  or  goat  wool,  or  of  thread  spun  by  worms  (silk?),  or  of 
patta  fibres  and  linen,  or  woven,  by  Scythians,  Turkharas  and  Kankas; 
housings  for  elephants,  by  princes  of  the  Eastern  tribes,  lower  Bengal, 
Midnapur  and  Ganjam;  fine  muslin  from  people  of  Carnatic  and 
Mysore. 

The  Ramayana  mentions  silken,  woolen  and  cotton  stuffs  of 
various  kinds.  The  trousseau  of  Slta  consisted  of  ‘ ‘ woolen  stufFs, 
furs,  precious  stones,  fine  silk,  vestments  of  divers  colors,  princely 
ornaments,  and  sumptuous  carriages  of  every  kind.” 

Heeren  supposes  the  woolen  stuffs  to  have  been  Cashmere  shawls. 
Ramanuja  mentions  a stuff  from  Nepal. 

The  change  of  custom  as  the  Aryans  penetrated  into  the  hot 
climate  of  the  Ganges  Valley  is  shown  in  the  Laws  of  Manu,  which 
prohibited  Brahmans  the  use  of  wool. 

Aside  from  the  priestly  caste,  however,  fine  fabrics  of  all  kinds  were 
in  use.  In  an  early  play,  the  Mrichchhakatika,  the  buffoon  inquires: 
“who  is  that  gentleman  dressed  in  silken  raiment,  glittering  with  rich 
ornaments,  and  rolling  about  as  if  his  limbs  were  out  of  joint?” 
(Act  IV,  Sc.  II). 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  fine  muslins  of  Eastern  Bengal 
known  under  such  names  as  “Textile  Breeze”,  “Evening  Dew  ”, 
or  “ Running  Water  ” were  made  there  before  the  Aryan  invasion. 
Spinning  and  weaving,  of  course,  were  both  by  hand,  and  although 
this  industry  was  renewed  by  the  cottons  from  Manchester  and  the 
starting  of  mills  about  Bombay,  this  superlatively  fine  yarn  is  still  pro- 
duced in  some  quantities.  In  1888  the  spinners  who  supplied  the 
finest  quality  were  said  to  be  reduced  to  two  elderly  women  in  the 


258 


village  of  Dhamrai,  about  20  miles  north  of  Dacca,  but  it  was  thought 
that  the  industry  might  be  revived  with  any  revival  of  the  demand  for 
this  fine  fabric. 

An  incredible  amount  of  patience  and  skill  were  required  in  this 
industry.  One  way  of  testing  the  fineness  of  the  fabric,  often 
described  by  mediaeval  and  earlier  travelers,  was  to  pass  a whole  piece 
of  20  yards  long  and  1 yard  wide  through  an  ordinary  finger-ring. 
The  best  test,  however,  was  by  the  weight  in  proportion  to  size  and 
number  of  threads.  It  is  said  that  200  years  ago  a piece  of  muslin 
15  yards  long  by  1 yard  wide  could  be  made  so  fine  as  to  weigh  only 
900  grains,  or  a little  over  1-10  of  a pound.  In  1840  a piece  of  the 
same  dimensions  and  texture  could  not  be  made  finer  than  1,600 
grains  and  was  valued  at  about  $50.  A piece  of  this  muslin  10  yards 
long  by  1 yard  wide  could  not  be  woven  in  less  than  five  months,  and 
the  work  could  only  be  carried  on  in  the  rainy  season  when  the 
moisture  in  the  air  would  prevent  the  thread  from  breaking. 

At  several  places  in  northwestern  India  fine  muslins  were  pro- 
duced, but  nowhere  of  quality  equal  to  those  of  Bengal.  These  also 
were  shipped  westward,  appearing  in  the  Periplus  as  exports  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Indus  and  at  the  Gulf  of  Cambay.  The  change  from 
hand  spinning  and  weaving  to  power  looms  and  spindles  was  not 
gradual  as  in  Europe,  but  was  due  to  the  direct  importation  of 
European  fabrics,  so  that  a few  months  sufficed  to  destroy  the  earlier 
industry  and  to  lay  the  way  for  the  modern  textile  mills  of  India. 

(See  Henry  Lee,  The  Vegetable  Lanibof  Tartary.  J.  H.  Furneaux, 
India:  Bombay,  1899;  chap.  iii.  T.  N.  Mukharji,  Art  Manufac- 
tures of  India.  Also,  The  Cotton  Plant,  published  by  the  U.  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  1896.) 

63.  Gold  mines. — This  was  probably  the  gold  of  the  Chota 
Nagpur  plateau,  located  from  75  to  150  miles  west  of  the  Ganges 
mouth.  The  rivers  flowing  north  and  east  of  these  highlands  have 
long  produced  alluvial  gold  in  considerable  quantities.  The  river 
Son,  which  formerly  flowed  into  the  Ganges  at  the  site  of  the  ancient 
capital  Pdtaliputra,  the  modern  Patna,  was  called  by  the  classical 
writers  Erannoboas , from  the  Sanscrit  hiranya-vaha , 1 carrying  gold.” 
(McCrindle,  Ancient  India,  p.  43;  cf.  the  Aurannoboas  of  § 53.) 

There  was  also  a substantial  supply  from  Tibet,  which  produced 
the  famous  “ant-gold”  mentioned  by  all  the  classical  writers  from 
Herodotus  to  Pliny.  As  Ball  pointed  out  journal  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy,  June,  1884),  the  “ant-gold”  was  a Sanscrit  name  for  the 
small  fragments  of  alluvial  gold;  this  name  was  passed  on,  being  ap- 
plied to  the  dogs  of  the  Tibetan  miners,  which  were  also  referred  to  as 


259 


griffins.  The  “horn  of  the  gold-digging  ant,”  mentioned  by  Pliny 
as  preserved  in  the  temple  of  Hercules  at  Erythrae,  was  a gold-miner’s 
pick-axe,  made  of  a wild  sheep’s  horn  mounted  on  a handle.  (See 
Herodotus  III,  102-5;  Arrian,  Anabasis  V,  4-7;  Strabo,  XV,  i,  44; 
Pliny,  XI,  36;  McCrindle,  Ancient  India,  51.) 

Gold  was  also  brought  into  India  through  the  Tipperah  country 
about  60  miles  east  of  the  Ganges  delta;  coming  chiefly  from  the 
river-washings  of  Assam  and  northern  Burma. 

Tavernier  notes  (III,  xvi)  that  it  was  of  poor  quality,  like  the 
silk  of  that  country,  and  that  both  were  sent  overland  to  China  in 
exchange  for  silver. 

In  Assam,  Ball  notes,  it  was  formerly  the  custom  for  the  rulers 
to  require  their  subjects  to  wash  for  gold  a certain  number  of  days 
every  year,  while  regular  gold-washers  were  taxed. 

Tipperah  merchants  trading  in  Dacca,  according  to  Tavernier 
(III,  xv),  took  back  “coral,  yellow  amber,  tortoise-shell  bracelets, 
and  others  of  sea  shells,  with  numerous  round  and  square  pieces  of 
the  size  of  our  15  sol  coins,  which  are  also  of  the  same  tortoise-shell 
and  sea-shells. 

The  Assam  washings  are,  however,  of  substantial  yield,  as  Tav- 
ernier himself  states  (III,  xvii).  See  also  Ball,  Economic  Geology  of 
India,  p.  231,  and  the  Alamgir  nama  of  Muhammad  Kazim  ( 1663),  in 
the  Indian  Antiquary , July,  1887. 

T he  coin  called  caltis  is  thought  by  Benfey  to  be  the  Sanscrit 
kalita,  “numbered.”  There  was,  however,  a South  Indian  coin 
called  kali  (Elliot,  op.  cit.,  137),  while  Vincent,  quoting  Stuckius, 
mentions  one  of  Bengal  called  kallais.  Wilford  (. Asiatic  Researches, 
V,  269),  preferred  the  reflned  gold  called  canden. 

Pliny  mentions  gold  on  the  Malabar  coast  (coming  from  the 
mines  of  Mysore);  but,  as  Watt  observes  (p.  565),  gold  has  always 
been  mainly  an  article  of  import  in  India. 

63.  Chryse  Island  (the  “golden”). — There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  by  this  was  meant  the  Malacca  peninsula,  known  to  Ptolemy 
as  the  Aurea  Chersonesus,  although  the  location  “just  opposite  the 
Ganges”  disposes  of  a long  voyage  in  rather  summary  fashion.  Im- 
mense gold  mines  of  ancient  date  have  been  discovered  in  the  Malayan 
State  of  Pahang,  north  of  Malacca,  and  these  are  probably  the  ones 
which  gave  the  name  of  “golden”  to  the  peninsula.  It  is  known 
from  Chinese  records  that  ships  from  that  country  made  the  journey 
to  Malacca  as  early  as  the  4th  century  B.  C.,  and  perhaps  as  early  as 
the  12th;  while  the  Egend  of  Buddha’s  visit  to  Cambodia  is  at  least 


260 


suggestive  of  the  great  influence  exercised  from  India  over  all  Indo- 
China. 

H.  C.  Clifford  ( Further  India,  N.  Y. , 1904,  pp.  6-7)  gives  an 
excellent  account  of  the  hazy,  yet  vaguely  correct,  ideas  of  the  Romans 
in  the  1st  and  2d  centuries  concerning  the  Far  East.  “Of  Chryse, 
the  golden,  Pliny  has  nothing  to  tell  us,  and  the  author  of  the  Periplus 
tells  us  only  that  it  was  situated  opposite  to  the  Ganges.  He  speaks, 
however,  of  Thina,  the  land  of  silk,  situated  ‘where  the  seacoast  ends 
externally,’  whence  we  may  gather  that  Chryse  was  conceived  by 
him  as  an  island  lying  not  only  to  the  east  of  the  Ganges,  but  also  to 
the  southward  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  This  indicates  a distinct  ad- 
vance in  knowledge,  for  the  isle  of  Chryse,  albeit  still  enveloped  in  a 
golden  haze,  was  to  the  author  of  the  Periplus  a real  country,  and  no 
mere  mythical  fairyland.  Rumors  must  have  reached  him  concerning 
it,  on  which  he  believed  he  could  rely;  and  this  would  tend  to  prove 
that  the  sea-route  to  China  via  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  even  though  it 
was  not  yet  in  general  use,  was  no  longer  unknown  to  the  mariners 
of  the  east.  We  know  that  less  than  a century  later  the  sailor  Alex- 
ander, from  whom  Marinus  of  Tyre  derived  the  knowledge  subse- 
quently utilized  by  Ptolemy,  himself  sailed  to  the  Malay  peninsula, 
and  beyond,  and  it  may  safely  be  concluded  that  the  feasibility  of 
this  southeastern  passage  had  become  known  to  the  seafarers  of  China 
long  before  an  adventurer  from  the  west  was  enabled  to  test  the  fact 
of  its  existence  through  the  means  of  an  actual  voyage.”  And  as 
illustrating  the  state  of  knowledge  in  the  Roman  world  in  the  1st  cen- 
tury, Mr.  Clifford  aptly  cites  Josephus  {Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  VIII,  2) 
who  recounts  the  Ophir  voyages  of  Solomon,  venturing  some  curious 
identifications:  “At  Ezion-Geber,  a bay  of  Egypt  on  the  Erythraean 
Sea,  the  king  constructed  a number  of  ships.  The  port  is  now  named 
Berenice(  ! ),  and  is  near  the  city  of  Elan,  formerly  deemed  to  be  in 
the  Hebrew  jurisdiction.  King  Hiram  greatly  assisted  King  Solomon 
in  preparing  his  navy,  sending  him  mariners  and  pilots,  who  conducted 
Solomon' s officers  to  the  land  that  of  old  was  called  Ophir,  but  now  the 
A urea  Chersonesus,  which  belongs  to  India,  to  fetch  gold.” 

It  is  uncertain  what  knowledge  Pliny  had  of  Further  India.  His 
account  of  Eastern  Asia  (VI,  20)  professes  to  begin  with  the  “Scy- 
thian Ocean,  ” — that  is,  the  Arctic — and  after  some  names  of  doubtful 
origin  he  mentions  “the  Promontory  of  Chryse  . . . and  the  nation 
of  the  Attacori  on  the  gulf  of  that  name,  a people  protected  by  their 
sunny  hills  from  all  noxious  blasts  . . . and  in  the  interior  the  Caseri, 
a people  of  India,  who  look  toward  the  Scythians,  and  eat  human 
flesh.  Here  are  also  numerous  wandering  nomad  tribes  of  India.” 


261 


The  numerous  migrations  from  India  into  Indo-China,  both 
before  and  after  the  Christian  era,  give  ample  ground  for  the  belief 
that  the  ports  of  South  India  and  Ceylon  were  in  truth,  as  the  Peri- 
plus  states,  the  center  of  an  active  trade  with  the  Far  East,  employing 
larger  ships,  and  in  greater  number,  than  those  coming  from  Egypt. 

The  great  migration  from  Gujarat  to  Java  in  the  6th  century 
A.  D.,  and  the  resulting  Hindu  kingdoms,  have  already  been  referred 
to,  and  their  greatest  monuments  remain  to  us  in  the  tremendous 
Buddhist  temples  of  Boroboedor  and  Brambanan.  If  Clifford’s  belief 
is  correct,  the  ruins  at  Angkor-Wat  in  Cambodia  are  no  less  distinc- 
tively of  ancient  Hindu  origin.  Of  these  he  quotes  Francois  Gamier: 
“Perhaps  never,  in  any  place,  has  a more  imposing  mass  of  stone 
been  raised  with  more  art  and  science.  If  we  wonder  at  the  Pyra- 
mids as  a gigantic  achievement  of  human  strength  and  patience,  then 
to  a strength  and  patience  no  whit  less  here  we  must  add  genius!” 

64.  A Land  called  This. — This  can  hardly  be  other  than  the 
great  western  state  of  China,  Ts’in,  and  “the  city  called  Thinae” 
(meant,  probably,  as  the  genitive  of  This),  was  its  capital,  Hien- 
yang,  later  known  as  Si-gnan-fu,  on  the  Wei  river  not  far  above  its 
confluence  with  the  Hoang-ho,  in  the  present  province  of  Shen-si. 
This  state  of  Ts’in  was  for  centuries  the  most  powerful  of  the 
Chinese  states,  and  a constant  menace  to  the  imperial  power.  The 
Chou  dynasty,  which  ruled  from  867  to  255  B.  C.,  found  itself 
harassed  in  the  west  by  the  Tartar  tribes,  and  in  the  east  by  rebel- 
lious subjects,  the  states  of  Wei,  Han,  Chau,  Ts’i  and  Ch’u.  Very 
early  in  the  dynasty,  perhaps  in  the  8th  century  B.  C.,  a portion  of 
their  sovereign  rights  were  resigned  to  the  prince  of  Ts’in,  in  con- 
sideration of  his  undertaking  the  defence  of  the  frontier  against  the 
Tartars.  This  policy  naturally  profited  Ts’in  more  than  the  empire, 
and  the  princes  of  Ts’in,  as  the  annals  put  it,  “like  wolves  or  tigers 
wished  to  draw  all  the  other  princes  into  their  claws,  so  that  they 
might  devour  them.”  The  power  of  Ts’in  grew  until  it  overbalanced 
the  confederation  of  eastern  states,  and  the  imperial  power  itself.  As 
Tartar  territory  was  conquered  it  was  incorporated  into  the  Ts’in 
dominions,  and  finally  a Ts’in  prince  became  Emperor  of  China  in 
255  B.  C.  The  greatest  of  the  Ts’ in  monarchs,  Ts’ in  Chi  Hwangti, 
who  ruled  from  221  to  209  B.  C.,  is  one  of  the  brighest  names  in 
Chinese  history.  It  was  he  who  began  the  Great  Wall,  and  who 
pushed  the  Chinese  frontier  across  the  Gobi  desert,  making  Hami, 
under  the  Tian-Shan  mountains,  his  outpost,  and  thus  preparing  the 
way  for  direct  communication  with  Bactria.  Regular  caravan  travel 
between  China  and  Bactria  is  said  to  have  begun  in  188  B.  C. 


262 


But  the  success  of  Ts’in  had  brought  its  own  reaction.  It  was 
itself  so  much  a Tartar  state  that  it  could  not  control  all  China,  and 
it  gave  way  to  the  Han  dynasty.  The  political  importance  of  the 
state  was  emphasized,  however,  by  the  first  Han  emperor,  Kaotsou, 
who  removed  his  capital  from  Loyang  in  Honan  to  Hien-Yang  or 
Singanfu  in  Shensi,  the  ancient  Ts’in  capital,  and  in  order  to  make  that 
western  location  more  accessible  to  the  rest  of  the  empire,  built  a 
great  high-road  from  Loyang  to  Singanfu,  which  is  still  in  use. 


Buddhist  pilgrim  in  northwestern  China:  from  a 6-ft.  panel  in  the  Commercial 
Museum,  Philadelphia,  1128  times  enlarged  from  a portion  of  a film  exposed  by 
Bailey  Willis,  Carnegie  Institution,  Washington. 


263 


The  Han  dynasty  soon  lost  its  outposts  beyond  the  wall,  and 
made  no  effort  to  recover  them  until  the  reign  of  Kwang  Youti, 
25-58  A.  D.,  who  made  China  a military  power  and  conquered 
Anam,  and  by  his  policy  toward  the  Yueh-chi  reasserted  sovereignty 
over  Turkestan.  His  son,  Mingti,  began  the  aggressive  westward 
policy  which  led  to  the  great  conquests  of  the  General  Pan-chao,  who 
led  his  army  of  Chinese  and  Tartars  as  far  as  the  Caspian,  and  who 
defeated  near  Khotan  the  Y’ueh-chi  king  Kadphises,  then  estab- 
lished in  upper  India.  It  was  in  this  region  that  Buddhism  seems  first 
to  have  reached  China,  rather  than  through  Tibet  or  Burma,  and  from 
this  time  China  was  always  more  or  less  directly  in  communication 
with  Western  Asia. 

( See  Hirth,  Ancient  History  of  China; — Richard,  Comprehensive 
Geography  of  the  Chinese  Empire ;~ Douglas,  China;  — Boulger,  History 
of  China; — E.  H.  Parker,  China; — H.  B.  Morse,  The  Trade  and 
Administration  of  the  Chinese  Empire. ) 

64.  Raw  silk  and  silk  yarn  and  silk  cloth. — See  also 
under  §§  39,  49  and  56.  This  is  the  earliest  correct  statement  of  the 
source  of  silk  and  of  the  routes  by  which  it  reached  the  world’s 
markets. 

Silk  is  the  cocoon-secretion  of  the  mulberry-leaf  moth,  Bombyx 
mori,  family  Bomhycida,  order  Lepidoptera ; native,  apparently,  and 
first  cultivated,  in  the  warm-temperate  climate  of  northwestern  China. 

Chinese  legends  mention  the  making  of  musical  instruments  of 
wood,  with  silk  threads,  under  the  emperor  Fu-hi,  (29th  century 
B.  C. ),  while  the  rearing  of  the  worms  and  the  invention  of  reel, 
loom,  etc.,  are  ascribed  to  Lei-tsu,  known  as  the  Lady  of  Si-ling,’  ’ 
wife  of  the  emperor  Huang-ti  (27th  century  B.  C-).  Cloth  was 
woven  of  silk,  embroidered  by  the  empress,  and  those  of  the  higher 
classes  were  enabled  to  discard  skins  as  wearing  apparel.  Soon  other 
textile  materials  were  discovered,  and  dyeing  introduced;  so  that  rank 
and  position  were  for  the  first  time  indicated  by  the  man’s  outward 
appearance. 

In  the  Ch'ou-li,  dating  from  the  11th  century  B.  C. , it  appears 
that  the  Chinese  government  supervised  the  production  of  silk  in  every 
detail,  and  that  specialties  of  design,  ornament,  and  embroidery,  were 
already  monopolized  in  different  families.  The  same  book  describes 
the  provinces  of  China:  King-chou,  the  modern  Hu-nan,  had  a trade 
in  cinnabar,  ivory,  and  skins;  Y’u-chou,  next  on  the  north  and  reach- 
ing the  Y’ellow  River,  traded  in  bamboos,  varnish,  silk  and  hemp; 
while  the  northernmost,  Ping-chdu  (the  modern  Shan-sij  was  noted 
especially  for  cotton  and  silk  textures.  It  was  this  province  which 


264 


was  most  in  contact  with  the  nomad  tribes  of  Central  Asia,  through 
whose  hands  silk  first  reached  the  western  nations. 

(Hirth,  Ancient  History  of  China,  9,  22-3,  117,  121-2). 

The  antiquity  of  the  silk  industry  in  India  is  uncertain,  but  the 
weight  of  evidence  seems  to  be  in  favor  of  its  importation  from  China, 
by  way  of  the  Brahmaputra  valley,  Assam  and  Eastern  Bengal,  early 
in  the  Christian  era;  while  the  cultivation  of  native  varieties,  not 
feeding  on  mulberry  leaves— the  Saturnida , including  Antheraa  paphia 
(the  modern  tasar  silk);  Antheraa  assarna  (feeding  on  laurel  species 
principally),  and  Attacus  ricini  (feeding  on  the  castor-oil  plant)  were 
probably  all  stimulated  by  the  value  of  the  Bombyx  silk. 

(See  Watt,  pp.  992-1026;  Cambridge  Natural  History,  VI,  375.) 

The  trade  in  silk  yarn  and  silk  cloth  existed  in  Northern  India 
soon  after  the  Aryan  invasion.  Silk  is  mentioned  several  times,  as 
gifts  from  foreign  countries,  in  the  Mahabhdrata,  the  Ramayana,  and 
the  Institutes  of  Manu;  and  it  maybe  assumed  that  some  trade  at  least 
went  farther  west.  The  Egyptian  records  do  not  mention  it  prior 
to  the  Persian  conquest,  and  it  was,  no  doubt,  through  the  empires  of 
Darius  and  Xerxes  that  it  first  reached  the  Mediterranean  world. 

The  Hebrew  scriptures  contain  at  least  two  references  to  silk: 
the  dmeshek  of  Amos  III,  12  seems  to  be  the  Arabic  dimaks,  English 
damask,  a silken  fabric;  while  meshi  in  Ezekiel  XVI,  10  seems  to 
mean  a silken  gauze.  Isaiah  also  (XLIX,  12)  mentions  the  Sinirn  in 
a manner  indicating  extreme  distance. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  Greeks  learned  of  silk  through 
Alexander’ s expedition,  but  it  probably  reached  them  previously  through 
Persia.  Aristotle  ( Hist . Anim.,  V,  xix,  11)  gives  a reasonably  correct 
account:  “It  is  a great  worm  which  has  horns  and  so  differs  from 
others.  At  its  first  metamorphosis  it  produces  a caterpillar,  then  a 
bombylius,  and  lastly  a chrysalis — all  these  changes  taking  place  within 
six  months.  Erom  this  animal  women  separate  and  reel  off  the 
cocoons  and  afterwards  spin  them.  It  is  said  that  this  was  first  spun 
in  the  island  of  Cos  by  Pamphile,  daughter  of  Plates.”  This  indi- 
cates a steady  importation  of  raw  silk  on  bobbins  before  Aristotle’ s 
time.  The  fabric  he  mentions  was  the  famous  Goa  vestis,  or  trans- 
parent gauze  (woven  also  at  Tyre  and  elsewhere  in  Syria),  which 
came  into  favor  in  the  time  of  Caesar  and  Augustus.  Pliny  mentions 
Pamphile  of  Cos,  “who  discovered  the  art  of  unwinding  the  silk” 
(from  the  bobbins,  not  from  the  cocoons)  “and  spinning  a tissue 
therefrom;  indeed,  she  ought  not  to  be  deprived  of  the  glory  of 
having  discovered  the  art  of  making  garments  which,  while  they  cover 
a woman,  at  the  same  time  reveal  her  naked  charms.  (XI,  2b). 


265 


He  refers  to  the  same  fabric  in  VI,  20,  where  he  speaks  of  “the 
Seres,  so  famous  for  the  wool  that  is  found  in  their  forests.  After 
steeping  it  in  water,  they  comb  off  a soft  down  that  adheres  to  the 
leaves;  and  then  to  the  females  of  our  part  of  the  world  they  give 
the  twofold  task  of  unraveling  their  textures,  and  of  weaving  the 
threads  afresh.  So  manifold  is  the  labor,  and  so  distant  are  the  re- 
gions which  are  thus  ransacked  to  supply  a dress  through  which  our 
ladies  may  in  public  display  their  charms.  ’ ’ Compare  Lucan,  P/iar- 
salia,  X,  141,  who  describes  Cleopatra,  “her  white  breasts  resplen- 
dent through  the  Sidonian  fabric,  which,  wrought  in  close  texture  by 
the  skill  of  the  Seres,  the  needle  of  the  workman  of  the  Nile  has 
separated,  and  has  loosened  the  warp  by  stretching  out  the  web.” 

Silk  fabrics  of  this  kind  were  much  affected  by  men  also  during 
the  reign  of  Augustus,  but  the  fashion  was  considered  effeminate,  and 
early  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  the  Roman  Senate  enacted  a law  “that 
men  should  not  defile  themselves  by  wearing  garments  of  silk.” 
(Tacitus,  Annals , II,  33.)  T he  cost  was  enormously  high;  from 
an  account  of  the  Emperor  Aurelian  we  learn  that  silk  was  worth  its 
weight  in  gold,  and  that  he  neither  used  it  himself  nor  allowed  his 
wife  to  possess  a garment  of  it,  thereby  setting  an  example  against  the 
luxurious  tastes  that  were  draining  the  empire  of  its  resources. 

Pliny  includes  it  in  his  list  of  the  “most  valuable  productions’  ’ 
(XXXVII,  67);  “the  most  costly  things  that  are  gathered  from  trees 
are  nard  and  Seric  tissues.’  ’ 

Pliny  (XXI,  8)  speaks  of  other  uses  for  silk:  “Luxury  arose  at 
last  to  such  a pitch  that  a chaplet  was  held  in  no  esteem  at  all  if  it  did 
not  consist  entirely  of  leaves  sewn  together  with  the  needle.  More 
recently  again  they  have  been  imported  from  India,  or  from  nations 
beyond  the  countries  of  India.  But  it  is  looked  upon  as  the  most 
refined  of  all,  to  present  chaplets  made  of  nard  leaves,  or  else  of  silk 
of  many  colors  steeped  in  unguents.  Such  is  the  pitch  to  which  the 
luxuriousness  of  our  women  has  at  last  arrived!  ” 

Among  both  Greek  and  Roman  writers  there  was  some  confusion 
between  cotton  and  silk,  both  being  called  ‘ ‘tree  wool ; ’ ’ and  Fabricius, 
in  his  translation  of  the  Periplus,  omits  silk  altogether,  considering 
raw  material,  yarn  and  cloth  alike  to  be  Turkestan  cotton.  But 
although  these  accounts  err  in  some  details,  Pliny  is  sufficiently  correct 
in  his  description  of  cotton.  He  distinguishes  the  wool-bearing  trees 
of  the  Seres  from  those  of  the  Indians  (XIV,  4),  and  describes  the  cot- 
ton shrub,  with  its  “fruit  resembling  a bearded  nut,  containing  on  the 
inside  a silky  down,  which  is  spun  into  threads;  the  tissue  made  from 
which  is  superior  to  all  others  in  whiteness  and  softness”  (XIX,  2), 


266 


while  his  account  of  the  silkworm  is  at  least  within  sight  of  the  trutl 
although  not  so  near  it  as  Aristotle’s: 

“At  first  they  assume  the  appearance  of  small  butterflies  wn 
naked  bodies,  but  soon  after,  being  unable  to  endure  the  cold,  thi 
throw  out  bristly  hairs,  and  assume  quite  a thick  coat  against  the  wint< 
by  rubbing  off  the  down  that  covers  the  leaves,  by  the  aid  of  tl 
roughness  of  their  feet.  1'his  they  compress  into  balls  by  carding 
with  tin  ir  claws,  and  then  draw  it  out  and  hang  it  between  tl 
branches  of  the  trees,  making  it  fine  by  combing  it  out  as  it  were;  la 
of  all,  they  take  and  roll  it  round  their  body,  thus  forming  a nest  i 
which  they  are  enveloped.  It  is  in  this  state  that  they  are  takei 
after  which  they  are  placed  in  earthen  vessels  in  a warm  place,  ai 
fed  upon  bran.  A peculiar  sort  of  down  soon  shoots  forth  upon  tl 
body,  on  being  clothed  with  which  they  are  sent  to  work  upon  anoth 
task.  The  cocoons  which  they  have  begun  to  form  are  rendered  st- 
and pliable  by  the  aid  of  water,  and  are  then  drawn  out  into  threa< 
by  means  of  a spindle  made  of  a reed.  Nor,  in  fact,  have  the  nu 
even  felt  ashamed  to  make  use  of  garments  formed  of  this  materi 
in  consequence  of  their  extreme  lightness  in  summer;  for  so  great 
have  manners  degenerated  in  our  own  day  that  so  far  from  wearing 
cuirass,  a garment  even  is  found  to  be  too  heavy. 

(See  also  Lassen,  1,  .117-322;  III,  25;  Yates,  iextrinum  At 
tiquorum.  ) 

The  reeling  of  silk  from  the  cocoons  was  confused  into  a com 
ing  of  down  from  the  leaves,  which  had  also  a basis  of  truth,  but  w 
the  cause  of  the  confusion  with  cotton.  Compare  Y'irgil,  Georgh 
II,  121;  — “Velleraque  ut  foliis  depectant  tenuia  Seres. 

Pliny  finally  distinguishes  between  the  two  fibers  in  referring 
Arabian  cotton  (XII,  21):  “trees  that  bear  wool,  but  of  a differe 
nature  from  those  of  the  Seres;  as  in  these  trees  the  leaves  produ- 
nothing  at  all,  and  indeed  might  very  readily  be  taken  for  those  of  tl 
vine.  ” 

I he  word  “silk’’  is  from  a Mongolian  original,  sirkek , meanii 
silk;  Korean  sir,  Chinese  ssi.  Hence  the  Greek  srr,  Latin  sericut 
From  this  word  the  name  Seres  was  applied  to  the  peoples  throui 
whose  hands  the  product  came;  by  which  must  be  understood,  n 
the  Chinese  themselves,  but  rather  the  Turkish  or  Tibetan  intermei 
aries.  That  the  word  was  loosely  extended  to  cover  most  of  Kaste 
Asia  is  undeniable;  but  Ptolemy  distinguishes  the  Sitter,  Isaiah  tl 
Sinitn,  while  the  Periplus  gives  nearly  the  correct  form,  This,  f 
China  proper. 

Pliny  has  a curious  mixture  of  Seres  and  Cirrhadar  in  his  Scyri 


267 


(VII,  2),  whose  flat-nosed  Mongolian  faces  he  describes  as  having 
“merely  holes  in  their  faces  instead  of  nostrils,  ” and  whom  he  con- 
nects with  an  allied  race,  the  Astomi,  “a  people  who  have  no  mouths, 
who  live  on  the  eastern  side  of  India,  near  the  source  of  the  Ganges; 
their  bodies  are  rough  and  hairy,  and  they  cover  themselves  with  a 
down  plucked  from  the  leaves  of  trees.  ” Here  he  shows  some 
knowledge  of  the  silk  trade  through  Assam. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus  (XXIII,  vi)  has  more  knowledge  of  the 
Seres : 

64.  “Beyond  the  districts  of  the  two  Scythias,  on  the  eastern 
side,  is  a ring  of  mountains  which  surround  Serica,  a country  consid- 
erable both  for  its  extent  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil.  This  tribe  on 
their  western  side  border  on  the  Scythians,  on  the  north  and  the  east 
they  look  toward  snowy  deserts;  toward  the  south  they  extend  as  far 
as  India  and  the  Ganges.  . . . 

67.  “The  Seres  themselves  live  quietly,  always  avoiding  arms 
and  battles;  and  as  ease  is  pleasant  to  moderate  and  quiet  men,  they 
give  trouble  to  none  of  their  neighbors.  Their  climate  is  agreeable 
and  healthy;  the  sky  serene,  the  breezes  gentle  and  delicious.  They 
have  numbers  of  shining  groves,  the  trees  of  which  through  continued 
watering  produce  a crop  like  the  fleece  of  a sheep,  which  the  natives 
make  into  a delicate  wool,  and  spin  into  a kind  of  fine  cloth,  formerly 
confined  to  the  use  of  the  nobles,  but  now  procurable  by  the  lowest 
of  the  people  without  distinction. 

68.  “The  natives  themselves  are  the  most  frugal  of  men,  culti- 
vating a peaceful  life,  and  shunning  the  society  of  other  men.  And 
when  strangers  cross  their  river  to  buy  their  cloth,  or  any  other  of 
their  merchandise,  they  interchange  no  conversation,  but  settle  the 
price  of  the  articles  wanted  by  nods  and  signs;  and  they  are  so  modest 
that,  while  selling  their  own  produce,  they  never  buy  any  foreign 
wares.  ” 

But  to  the  Graeco-Roman  world  the  Seres  were  a people  as 
ubiquitous  as  the  subjects  of  Prester  John  in  the  middle  ages.  The 
Cheras  of  Malabar  ( Seri  in  Sinhalese  mouths;  see  p.  209),  and  even 
Ausar  and  Masira  in  Southern  Arabia  (see  p.  140)  were  identified 
with  them. 

Concerning  the  long  struggles  of  the  emperors  at  Constantinople 
with  the  Sassanid  monarchs  in  Persia,  over  the  ever-increasing  silk- 
trade,  culminating  in  the  romantic  success  of  the  Christian  monks 
who  succeeded  in  bringing  the  jealously-guarded  eggs  to  Justinian, 
hidden  in  a bamboo  cane,  thereby  laying  the  foundation  of  the  silk- 
culture  of  Greece  and  the  Levant,  see  Beazley,  Daiun  of  Alodern 


268 


Geography,  Vol.  I; — Heyd,  Histoire  du  Commerce  du  Levant  au  Moyen 
■Age\  D’Anville,  Rcc  he  relies  g'eographiq  ues  et  historiques  sur  la  Serique  des 
anciens  (1768)  in  M'emoires  de  F Acad'emie  Roy  ale  des  Inscriptions  et  Belles- 
Lettres,  xxxii,  573-603; — Reinaud,  Relations  pohtiques  et  commercials 
de  F Empire  Romain  avee  F Asie  Orientale  pendant  les  cinq  premiers  siecles 
de  Eire  chretienne. 

See  also  Richthofen,  China,  1,  chap,  x; — Stein,  Sand-buried 
Rums  of  Khotan ; — Gotz,  Jderkchrswege  im  Dienste  des  Welthandels, 
496-511; — Speck,  Handelsgeschichte  des  Altcrtums,  I; — Letourneau, 
L Evolution  du  Commerce-, — Noel,  Histoire  du  Commerce  du  Monde , I; 
— Lindsay,  History  of  Merchant  Shipping  and  Ancient  Commerce,  I;  — 
Mayr,  Lehrbuch  dcr  Handelsgeschichte,  I,  § 16; — Tozer,  A History  of 
Ancient  Geography,  281; — Bunbury,  History  of  Ancient  Geography,  I, 
565;  II,  166,  658; — Edmunds,  Buddhist  and  Christian  Gospels , 4th 
ed.,  introduction. 

64.  Through  Bactria  to  Barygaza.  The  overland  travel 
from  the  Yellow  River  to  Bactra,  first  instituted,  possibly,  early  in 
the  2d  century  B.  C.  and  then  obstructed  for  nearly  two  centuries, 
followed  two  routes.  The  earlier,  and  to  the  Chinese  the  most  im- 
portant because  it  led  to  the  Khotan  jade-field,  was  the  Nan-lu  or 
' 'southern  way,”  the  stages  of  which  may  be  traced  on  the  map  as 
follows : 

Singanfu,  Lanchowfu,  Kanchow,  Yumenhsien,  Ansichow,  Lop 
Nor  to  Tsiemo  (the  Asmircca  of  the  Greeks)  where  the  routes  divided. 
The  Nan-lu  followed  south  of  the  Tarim  River  to  Khotan  and  Yar- 
kand, thence  over  the  Pamirs  and  westward  to  the  Oxus  and  Bactra. 
This  was  the  earliest  route  opened  by  the  Chinese  army  under  Pan 
Chao,  being  cleared  in  74  A.  D.  The  second  route,  the  P'ei-lu  or 
"northern  way,”  followed  the  same  course  from  Singanfu  to  Tsiemo, 
thence  north  of  the  Tarim  through  Kuche  and  Aksu  to  Kashgar,  and 
over  the  tremendous  heights  of  the  Terek  to  the  Jaxartes  and  Samar- 
cand.  Thence  a route  led  southward  to  Bactra,  while  another  led 
southwestward  more  directly  to  Antiochia  Margiana  (Merv. ) This 
second  route  was  opened  by  Pan  Chao  in  94  A.  D. 

A variant  of  the  P'ei-lu  led  from  Yumenhsien  to  Hami,  Turfan 
and  Kharachar,  meeting  the  above  route  at  Kuche;  this  was  preferable 
in  some  respects,  being  close  to  the  mountains,  but  was  subjected  to 
constant  attacks  by  the  savage  Tartar  tribes,  Hami  especially  being  a 
storm-center  in  the  Chinese  annals,  and  an  important  outpost  for  the 
defence  of  the  main  route.  Another  variant  led  from  Turfan  through 
the  Tian-shan  to  Urumtsi  and  Kuldja,  thence  by  the  Hi  River  and 


269 


north  of  the  mountains  to  Tashkend,  Bokhara  and  Merv.  This  did 
not  become  important  until  later. 

The  general  topography  of  these  Turkestan  routes  is  shown  by  a 
passage  from  the  Han  Annals  quoted  by  Richthofen  {China,  I,  460) 
from  Stanislaus  Julien  {Notices  sur  les  pays  et  les  peuplcs  et rangers,  tir'ees 
des  geographes  et  des  historiens  chinois,  in  Journal  Asiatique,  Ser.  IV,  Vol. 
VIII,  1846,  pp.  228-252),  as  follows: 

Hsi-yii  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  barriers  of  Yiimen-kwan 
and  Yang-kwan,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Tsung-ling  (Pamirs).  But 
the  Tsung-ling  is  the  trunk  from  which  the  great  mountain-ranges 
branch  out,  which  enclose  the  district  on  the  north  and  the  south,  and 
these  same  ranges  bound  the  districts  of  Nan-lu  and  P'ei-lu  on  the  south 
and  north.  ” And  again : * cThe  land  along  the  Nan-shan  ( Kuen-lun) 
is  called  Nan-tau,  and  that  along  the  Pei-shan  (Tian-shan)  is  called 
P'ei-tau.  Both  these  provinces  lie  to  the  south  of  Pei-shan.  . . . 
Hsi-yii  extends  6000  li  from  east  to  west,  and  1000  li  from  south  to 
north.  ” 

That  is,  Tibet  and  Sungaria  had  no  part  in  the  transcontinental 
silk-trade  in  Roman  times. 

This  Central  Asian  trade-route  was  first  comprehensively  de- 
scribed by  Marinus  of  Tyre,  some  two  generations  later  than  the 
Periplus.  His  account  is  preserved  by  Ptolemy,  and  is  said  to  be 
based  on  the  notes  of  a Macedonian  silk-merchant  named  Maes, 
whose  Roman  name  was  Titianus;  who  (fid  not  perform  the  whole 
journey,  but  repeats  what  he  learned  of  Turkestan  from  his  “agents” 
or  trading  associates  whom  he  met  at  the  Pamirs.  The  route,  he 
says,  began  at  the  Bay  of  Issus  in  Cilicia,  crossed  Mesopotamia,  As- 
syria and  Media,  to  Ecbatana  and  the  Caspian  Pass;  through  Parthia 
and  Hyrcania,  to  Antiochia  Margiana  (Merv);  thence  through  Aria 
into  Bactria.  Thence  the  route  passed  through  the  mountainous 
country  of  the  Comedi,  and  through  the  territory  of  the  Sacae  to  the 
“Stone  Tower,  ” the  station  of  those  merchants  who  trade  with  the 
Seres  ( Tashkurghan,  in  Sarikol,  on  the  upper  Yarkand  River  in  the 
Chinese  Pamirs;  a fortified  town  built  on  a great  rocky  crag  that 
rises  from  the  Taghdumbash  valley,  at  the  convergence  of  routes  from 
the  Oxus,  the  Indus  and  the  Yarkand.  See  Stein,  op.  cit.,  67-8.) 
Thence  to  the  Casii  (Kashgar)  and  through  the  country  of  the  Tha- 
guri,  until  after  a seven-months’  journey  from  the  “Stone  Tower” 
the  merchants  arrived  at  “Sera  Metropolis,”  the  “City  called  Thinas” 
of  the  Periplus. 

By  too  literal  an  application  of  this  “seven-months’  journey” 
both  Marinus  and  Ptolemy  were  led  into  grave  error  as  to  the  longi- 


270 


tudinal  extension  of  Asia;  but  the  evidence  of  direct  trade  between 
Rome  and  China  is  remarkable. 

The  first  part  of  the  route  was  minutely  described  before  our 
author’s  time,  in  the  Mansiones  Parthica:  of  Isidorus  of  Charax  Spasini. 

This  route  of  Maes  the  Macedonian  followed  very  nearly  the 
same  direction  as  the  Chinese  Nan-lu,  after  leaving  Bactra,  crossing 
the  Pamirs  diagonally  to  Kashgar,  on  th ePci-lu,  but  then  turning  south- 
ward through  Yarkand  to  Khotan,  and  in  passing  “Thagura”  took  a 
more  southerly,  and  also  a more  direct  route  than  the  Nan-lu  itself, 
which  it  joined  half-way  between  Lop  Nor  and  the  Bulunzir  (the 
“river  of  the  Hiong-nu”);  east  of  which  all  three  routes  were  iden- 
tical as  far  as  Singanfu. 

(See  map  to  face  p.  500,  Vol.  I,  of  Richthofen’s  China-,—  Stieler’s 
Hand-Alias,  maps  61-2; — Stanford,  Atlas  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  plates 
12,  13,  19,  21  Lansdell,  Chinese  Central  Asia,  Vol.  II; — Stein, 
op.  cit.,  chap.  v.  and  map.) 

At  Bactra  this  overland  trade-route  branched  again,  following 
westward  through  the  Parthian  highlands  to  the  Euphrates,  or  southward 
to  Bamian,  the  Cabul  valley,  the  Khyber  Pass  and  the  Indus.  From 
Taxilathe  highway  of  the  Maurya  dynasty  led  through  the  Panjab  to  the 
capital  at  Palibothra,  with  a branch  from  Mathura  southward  to  Ozene 
and  the  Deccan.  The  route  down  the  Indus  to  its  mouth  was  less 
important  owing  to  the  character  of  the  tribes  living  on  the  lower 
reaches.  This  is  indicated  by  the  text,  which  says  far  more  of  the 
products  carried  by  the  overland  route  to  Barygaza  than  of  those 
coming  to  Barbaricum. 

Yet  a part  of  the  Chinese  trade  was,  apparently,  localized  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Indus.  While  the  valuable  silk  cloth  went  to  Barygaza, 
the  yarn,  or  thread,  went  to  Barbaricum,  where  it  was  exchanged  for 
a product  always  more  highly  valued  in  China  than  in  India — namely, 
frankincense;  the  white  incense,  or  shehri  luban,  which  Marco  Polo 
still  found  in  extensive  use  in  China  under  the  name  of  “milk  per- 
fume.” This  is  not  listed  in  the  Periplus  among  the  imports  at  other 
Indian  ports,  and  evidently  found  its  way  up  the  Indus  to  Peucelaotis 
and  Bactra,  and  thence  to  China.  The  silk  yarn,  in  return,  went  to 
Arabia,  where  it  was  used  in  making  the  embroidered  and  silk-shot 
fabrics  for  which  Arabia  and  Syria  wTere  so  famous  in  the  Roman 
market. 


Concerning  the  frankincense  of  the  Deir-el-Bahri  reliefs  Mr. 
R.  E.  Drake-Brockman  writes  again  from  Bulhar,  Sept.  18,  1910,  that 
the  cattle  shown  in  those  reliefs  are  not  the  humped  cattle  peculiar  to 


271 


Somaliland  (and  likewise  to  much  of  East  Africa,  Madagascar  and 
Western  India)  but  the  ordinary  type,  without  humps;  which  are 
bred  in  Southern  Arabia  and  Socotra. 

“The  cattle  of  these  regions  and  in  fact  the  whole  of  Gallaland 
and  Southern  Abyssinia  are  all  the  humped  variety.  I have  travelled 
fairly  extensively  in  these  regions  and  have  never  seen  the  non-humped 
breed,  and  very  much  doubt  if  they  ever  existed  in  these  dried-up 
parts,  as  the  hump  is  to  these  cattle  what  the  camel’s  hump  is  to  the 
camel,  a sort  of  storehouse.  Besides  this,  cattle  are  rare  in  Somali- 
land proper,  and  it  is  improbable  if  they  ever  existed  in  greater  num- 
bers or  were  exported.” 


Vase  of  black  pottery  ornamented  with  figures  of  humped  cattle.  From  the 
Madagascar  collection  in  the  Commercial  Museum,  Philadelphia. 

This  is  one  more  proof  that  the  Punt  Expedition  did  not  make 
its  terminus  on  the  Somali  coast,  but  must  have  gone  to  the  Plain  of 
Dhofar,  or  possibly  to  the  south  side  of  Socotra,  which  was  a depen- 
dency of  Dhofar.  The  localization  of  the  island  Pa-anch  of  the 
XHIth  dynasty  tale,  and  the  incense-land  Panchaia  of  Virgil,  in 


272 


Socotra,  makes  that  an  interesting  possibility;  but  altogether  the  scene 
on  the  reliefs  is  more  strongly  suggestive  of  Dhofar,  the  Sachalites 
of  the  Periplus.  (See  also  pp.  120,  141-2,  and  218.) 

See  Ptolemy,  I,  11-12,  VI,  13; — De  Guignes,  Sur  les  liaisons  et 
le  commerce  des  Romains  avec  les  Tartares  et  les  Chinois : in  Memoir es  de 
r Academie  Roy  ale  des  Inscriptions  et  Belles-Lettres,  Vol.  xxxii  (1798)  pp. 
355-69; — Remusat,  Remarques  sur  /’ extension  de  /’  Empire  Chinois  du  cote 
de  l' accident  (1825)  ;—  Lassen,  I,  13-14,  11,519-660; — Yule,  Cathay 
and  the  Way  Thither-, — Stein,  Sand-Buried  Ruins  of  Khotan; — Gen. 
M.  R.  Haig,  The  Indus  Delta  Country-, — Richthofen,  China,  Vol.  I; 
— Vincent,  II,  573-618; — Merzbacher,  The  Central  Tian-Shan  Moun- 
tains-,— Bonin,  Grandes  votes  commercials  de  ! Asie  Centrale;  — Manifold, 
Recent  Exploration  and  Economic  Development  in  Central  and  Western 
China  (with  map)  in  Geographical  Journal,  xxiii,  281-312,  Mar.  1904; 
— Geil,  The  Great  Wall  of  China-, — Keane,  Asia,  I,  chap.  v.  Col. 
Al.  S.  Bell,  in  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  1890,  de- 
scribes his  journey  of  1887  along  the  entire  Central  Asian  trade- 
route  between  Kashgar  and  Peking. 

64.  To  Damirica  by  way  of  the  Ganges. — This  was  the 
route  across  the  Tibetan  plateau,  starting  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
Turkestan  routes,  from  Singanfu  to  Lanchowfu;  branching  here,  it 
led  to  Siningfu,  thence  to  Koko  Nor,  and  southwestward,  by  Lhasa 
and  the  Chumbi  Vale  to  Sikkim  and  the  Ganges.  The  route  from 
Lhasa  by  the  lower  Brahmaputra  was  little  used,  owing  to  the  savage 
tribes  inhabiting  it.  There  were  numerous  other  passages  into  India; 
as,  for  instance,  a frequented  route  by  the  Arun  River  through  Nepal 
to  the  Ganges,  or  by  following  the  upper  Brahmaputra  to  the  sacred 
peak  of  Kailas  and  the  source  of  the  Sutlej,  or  continuing  through 
Gartok  to  the  upper  Indus.  But  natural  conditions,  as  stated  in  § 66 
of  the  Periplus  itself,  made  these  routes  through  Western  Tibet 
almost  impracticable  for  commerce. 

This  was  the  route  which  later  became  the  great  highway  of 
Buddhist  pilgrim-travel  between  Mongolia  and  Lhasa.  It  is  best 
described  by  one  of  the  few  white  men  who  have  ever  traversed  it: 
Hue,  Recollections  of  a Journey  through  Tartary,  Thibet  and  China  during 

1844-46. 

The  Chinese  Buddhist  monk  Fa-Hien  spent  two  years  in  ‘‘the 
country  of  Tamalipti,  the  capital  of  which  is  a seaport  . . . after  this 
he  embarked  in  a large  merchant-vessel,  and  went  floating  over  the 
sea  to  the  southwest.  It  was  the  beginning  of  winter  and  the  wind 


273 


was  favorable;  and  after  fourteen  days,  sailing  day  and  night,  they 
came  to  the  country  of  Singhala.”  ( Travels , chap,  xxxvii. ) 

“To  Damirica”  came  the  eastern  shipping,  according  to  the 
text;  that  is,  the  Chera  backwaters  were  a meeting-point  for  the  trade 
from  the  China  Sea  to  the  Gulf  of  Suez.  Our  author  did  not  meet 
these  vessels  at  Nelcynda,  because  the  same  monsoon  that  brought 
them  would  have  taken  him  away. 

Marco  Polo  tells  us  something  of  this  trade  in  his  day  (III,  xxv)  : 
“There  is  in  this  kingdom  of  Melibar  a great  quantity  of  pepper,  and 
ginger,  and  cinnamon,  and  turbit,  and  of  nuts  of  India.  They  also 
manufacture  very  delicate  and  beautiful  buckrams.  The  ships  that 
come  from  the  east  bring  coffee  in  ballast.  They  also  bring  hither 
cloths  of  silk  and  gold,  and  sendels;  also  gold  and  silver,  cloves  and 
spikenard,  and  other  fine  spices.” 

See  Holdich,  Tibet  the  Mysterious ; — Rockhill,  The  Land  of  the 
Lamas; — Sven  Hedin,  Central  Asia  and  Tibet; — Waddell,  Lhasa  and 
its  Mysteries;  Younghusband,  The  Geographical  Results  of  the  Tibet 
Alission,  in  Geographical  Journal,  xxv,  1905; — Crosby,  Tibet  and  Turk- 
estan; Candler,  The  Unveiling  of  Lhasa; — Landon,  Lhasa , and  The 
Opening  of  Tibet; — Sarat  Chandra  Das,  Journey  to  Lhasa  and  Central 
Tibet; — Littledale,  A Journey  across  Tibet;  — Deasy,  In  Tibet  and  Chinese 
Turkestan; — Carey,  Adventures  in  Tibet; — Sandberg,  The  Exploration 
of  Tibet; — Tsybikoff,  Lhasa  and  Central  Tibet  (Smithsonian  Report, 
1903); — Prjevalski,  Mongolia , the  Tangut  Country , and  the  Solitudes 
of  Northern  Tibet; — Sherring,  Jfestern  Tibet  and  the  British  Borderland. 

64.  Few  men  come  from  there,  and  seldom. — Until  the 
subjugation  of  Turkestan  by  China,  travel  and  trade  overland  were 
naturally  hazardous.  The  routes  through  Tibet  and  upper  Burma 
were  never  so  actively  used  as  those  leading  through  the  Pamirs.  For 
this,  racial  and  topographical  reasons  were  alike  responsible. 

See  Lassen,  I,  167-9; — Kemp,  The  Face  of  China ; also,  for  a 
most  useful  and  detailed  account  of  a recent  journey  along  the  little- 
travelled  Burmese  route,  R.  F.  Johnston,  From  Peking  to  Mandalay. 
Another  theory,  outlined  by  Kingsmill  ( The  Mantse  and  the  Golden 
Chersonese , and  Ancient  Tibet  and  its  Frontagers,  in  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  China  Branch,  xxxv  and  xxxvii),  and  Terrien  de  La- 
couperie  (in  his  introduction  to  Colquhoun’s  Among  the  Shans),  locates 
this  entire  traffic  in  upper  Burma;  identifying  Thinae  with  Theinni, 
the  Burmese  form  of  Hsen-wi,  or  the  Northern  Shans,  and  with  Tieny 
the  name  given  by  Marco  Polo  to  the  Chinese  province  of  Yunnan. 
(See  also  Rocher,  La  Province  Chinoise  de  Yunnan  A But  whatever 
may  be  the  relation  of  Ptolemy’s  Since  and  Cosmas’  Tzinista  to  Burma, 


274 


it  may  be  asserted  that  the  Thinae  of  the  Periplus  had  nothing  to  do 
with  that  region.  Silk  was  brought  thence  overland  “through  Bactria 
to  Barygaza,”  that  is,  by  the  Turkestan  route.  Why  ignore  the 
ancient  center  of  the  silk  industry,  Singanfu,  to  find  a fancied  similarity 
of  name  in  a locality  never  important  in  silk  production,  separated 


Early  Chinese  Buddhist  9-storied  pagoda:  compare  illustrations  of  Hindu 
and  Abyssinian  types,  on  pp.  64-5.  From  a model  exhibited  in  the  Commercial 
Museum,  Philadelphia. 


275 


from  the  silk-route  by  1000  miles  of  the  most  difficult  travelling  in  Asia, 
and  not  certainly  settled  by  Shan  tribes  until  some  centuries  later  than 
the  Periplus?  The  theory  is  manifestly  impracticable. 

With  the  rise  of  the  Kushan  dynasty  in  the  northwest,  and  their 
relations  towards  their  former  home  on  the  Chinese  border,  it  was 
natural  that  communication  by  the  Turkestan  routes  should  increase. 
While  the  military  successes  of  China  did  not  begin  until  73  A.  D., 
it  is  known  that  the  Chinese  Emperor  Ming-ti  (who  ruled  from  58 
to  75)  introduced  Buddhism  into  China  by  the  invitation  of  two 
Indian  Sramanas,  Kasyapa  Matanga  and  Bharana,  who  arrived  in  67 
A.  D.  (Takakusu,  Introduction  to  his  edition  of  I-tsing,  p.  xvii. ) 
Before  such  an  invitation  there  must  have  been  considerable  activity 
on  the  part  of  missionaries,  then  as  now  the  forerunners  of  commerce. 

The  text  seems  to  be  describing  conditions  prior  to  the  journey 
of  the  Sramanas  in  67  A.  D. 

As  contrasting  with  the  knowledge,  or  lack  of  it,  which  the  Ro- 
mans displayed  concerning  China,  the  following  account  of  Roman 
Syria,  particularly  the  district  of  Antioch,  taken  from  Chinese  annals 
of  almost  the  same  date  as  the  Periplus,  is  of  interest.  (Quoted 
from  Hirth,  China  and  the  Roman  Orient.)'. 

ANNALS  OF  THE  HAN  DYNASTY  OF  CHINA 
Chapter  88 

( Section  “ Hou-han-shu,”  partly  written  during  the  5th  century  A.  D., 
and  embracing  the  period  A.  D.  25  to  220) 

The  first  detailed  account  of  the  Roman  empire  contained  in  the  Chinese  annals: 
this  account  describing  Roman  Syria  and  its  capital  Antioch,  and  being 
based  on  the  report  of  the  Ambassador  Kan  Ying,  A.  D.  97 

(1)  The  country  of  Ta-ts’  in  is  also  called  Lichien  (Li-kin)  and, 
as  being  situated  on  the  western  part  of  the  sea,  Hai-hsi-kuo,  ().  e. 
“country  of  the  western  part  of  the  sea”).  (2)  Its  territory  amounts 
to  several  thousand  li;  (3)  it  contains  over  four  hundred  cities,  (4) 
and  of  dependent  states  there  are  several  times  ten.  (5)  The  de- 
fences of  cities  are  made  of  stone.  (6)  The  postal  stations  and  mile- 
stones on  the  roads  are  covered  with  plaster.  (7)  There  are  pine 
and  cypress  trees  and  all  kinds  of  other  trees  and  plants.  (8)  The 
people  are  much  bent  on  agriculture  and  practice  the  planting  of  trees 
and  the  rearing  of  silk-worms.  (9)  They  cut  the  hair  of  their  heads, 
(10)  wear  embroidered  clothing,  (II)  and  drive  in  small  carriages 
covered  with  white  canopies;  (12)  when  going  in  or  out  they  beat 
drums,  and  hoist  flags,  banners,  and  pennants.  (13)  The  precincts 
of  the  walled  cities  in  which  they  live  measure  over  a hundred  li  in 


276 


circumference.  (14)  In  the  city  there  are  five  palaces,  ten  li  distant 
from  each  other.  (15)  In  the  palace  buildings  they  use  crystal  to 
make  pillars;  vessels  used  in  taking  meals  are  also  made.  (16)  The 
king  goes  to  one  palace  a day  to  hear  cases.  After  five  days  he  has 
completed  his  round.  (17)  As  a rule,  they  let  a man  with  a bag 
follow  the  king’s  carriage  Those  who  have  some  matter  to  submit, 
throw  a petition  into  the  bag.  When  the  king  arrives  at  the  palace 
he  examines  into  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  the  matter.  (18)  The 
official  documents  are  under  the  control  of  thirty-six  chiang  (generals?) 
who  conjointly  discuss  government  affairs.  (19)  Their  kings  are  not 
permanent  rulers,  but  they  appoint  men  of  merit.  (20)  When  a 
severe  calamity  visits  the  country,  or  untimely  rain-storms,  the  king 
is  deposed  and  replaced  by  another.  The  one  relieved  from  his  duties 
submits  to  his  degradation  without  a murmur.  (21)  The  inhabitants 
of  that  country  are  tall  and  well-proportioned,  somewhat  like  the 
Chinese,  whence  they  are  called  Ta-ts’in.  (22)  The  country  con- 
tains much  gold,  silver,  and  rare  precious  stones,  especially  the 
“jewel  that  shines  at  night,  ” the  “moonshine  pearl,’’  the  hsieh-chi- 
/isi,  corals,  amber,  glass,  lang-kan  (a  kind  of  coral),  chu-tan  (cinna- 
bar?), green  jadestone  ( ching-pi ),  gold-embroidered  rugs  and  thin 
silk-cloth  of  various  colors.  (23)  They  make  gold-colored  cloth 
and  asbestos  cloth.  (25)  They  further  have  “fine  cloth,”  also  called 
Shui-yang-ts’ ui,  (/'.  e.  down  of  the  water-sheep);  it  is  made  from  the 
cocoons  of  wild  silk-worms.  (25)  They  collect  all  kinds  of  fragrant 
substances,  the  juice  of  which  they  boil  into  su-ho  (storax).  (26) 
All  the  rare  gems  of  other  foreign  countries  come  from  there.  (27) 
They  make  coins  of  gold  and  silver.  Ten  units  of  silver  are  worth 
one  of  gold.  (28)  They  traffic  by  sea  with  An-hsi  (Parthia)  and 
T ien-chu  (India),  the  profit  of  which  trade  is  ten-fold.  (29)  They 
are  honest  in  their  transactions  and  there  are  no  double  prices.  (30) 
Cereals  are  always  cheap.  The  budget  is  based  on  a well-filled 
treasury.  (31)  When  the  embassies  of  neighboring  countries  come 
to  their  frontier,  they  are  driven  by  post  to  the  capital,  and  on  arrival, 
are  presented  with  golden  money.  (32)  Their  kings  always  desired 
to  send  embassies  to  China,  but  the  An-hsi  (Parthians)  wished  to 
carry  on  trade  with  them  in  Chinese  silks,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that 
they  were  cut  off  from  communication.  (33)  This  lasted  till  the 
ninth  year  of  the  Yen-hsi  period  during  the  emperor  Huan-ti’s  reign 
(=  A.  D.  166)  when  the  king  of  Ta-ts  in,  An-tun  (Marcus  Aurelius 
Antoninus)  sent  an  embassy  who,  from  the  frontier  of  Jih-nan  (Anam) 
offered  ivory,  rhinoceros  horns,  and  tortoise  shell.  From  that  time 
dates  the  (direct)  intercourse  with  this  country.  The  list  of  their 


277 


tribute  contained  no  jewels  whatever,  which  fact  throws  doubt  on  the 
tradition.  (34)  It  is  said  by  some  that  in  the  west  of  this  country 
there  is  the  Jo-shai  (“weak  water”)  and  the  Liu-sha  (“flying  sands, 
desert”)  near  the  residence  of  the  Hsi-wang-mu  ( mother  of  the 
western  king”),  where  the  sun  sets.  (35)  The  Ch 'ien-han-shu 
says  “from  T’ iao-chih  west,  going  over  200  days,  one  is  near  the 
place  where  the  sun  sets;”  this  does  not  agree  with  the  present  book. 
(36)  Former  embassies  from  China  all  returned  from  Wu-l ; there 
were  none  who  came  as  far  as  T’ iao-chih.  (37)  It  is  further  said 
that,  coming  from  the  land-road  of  An-hsi  (Parthia),  you  make  a 
round  at  sea  and,  taking  a northern  turn,  come  out  from  the  western 
part  of  the  sea,  whence  you  proceed  to  Ta-ts’in.  (38)  The  country 
is  densely  populated;  every  ten  li  (of  a road)  are  marked  by  a t’ing; 
thirty  li  by  a chih  (resting-place).  (39)  One  is  not  alarmed  by 
robbers,  but  the  road  becomes  unsafe  by  fierce  tigers  and  lions  who 
will  attack  passengers,  and  unless  these  be  traveling  in  caravans  of  a 
hundred  men  or  more,  or-  be  protected  by  military  equipment,  they 
may  be  devoured  by  these  beasts.  (40)  They  also  say  there  is  a 
flying  bridge  (fei-chiao ) of  several  hundred  li,  by  which  one  may  cross 
to  the  countries  north  of  the  sea.  (41)  The  articles  made  of  rare 
precious  stones  produced  in  this  country  are  sham  curiosities  and 
mostly  not  genuine,  whence  they  are  not  (here)  mentioned. 

64.  Under  the  Lesser  Bear — meaning  far  to  the  north  (of 
the  Himalayas).  No  part  of  China  is  actually  so  far  north  as  to  have 
Ursa  Minor  in  the  zenith;  this  would  require  it  to  be  within  the 
Arctic  Circle. 

64.  Empty  into  the  Ocean. — This  was  the  belief  of  most 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  geographers.  See  p.  100,  where  the 
map  according  to  Pomponius  Mela  shows  the  Caspian  directly 
connected  with  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  Lake  Maeotis  connected  by 
means  of  the  Tanais,  or  Don,  river.  So  Strabo  (XI,  vi,  1):  “The 
Caspian  is  a bay  extending  from  the  ocean  to  the  south.  At  its  com- 
mencement it  is  very  narrow;  as  it  advances  further  inward,  and 
particularly  toward  the  extremity,  it  widens.  . . . Eratosthenes  says 
that  the  navigation  of  this  sea  was  known  to  the  Greeks;  that  the 
part  of  the  voyage  along  the  coast  of  the  Albanians  and  the  Gadusii 
comprised  5400  stadia ; and  the  part  along  the  country  of  the  Anariaci, 
Mardi,  and  Hyrcani,  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  river  Oxus,  4800 
stadia,  and  thence  to  the  Jaxartes,  2400  stadia.”  This  passage,  often 
ridiculed,  is  rather  an  indication  of  the  strong  probability  that  the  Cas- 
pian and  Aral  Seas  were  joined  together  until  after  the  Christian  era, 
so  that  the  Amu  and  Syr  were  in  truth  accessible  to  the  Greek  adven- 


278 


turers  from  Colchis,  crossing  from  the  Euxine  Sea.  As  to  Lake  Maeotis 
(the  Sea  of  Azov)  Strabo  says  (XI,  i,  5)  : “Asia  has  a kind  of  penin- 
sular form,  surrounded  on  the  west  by  the  river  Tanais  and  the  Palus 
Maeotis  as  far  as  the  Cimmerian  Bosphorus,  and  that  part  of  the  coast 
of  the  Euxine  which  terminates  at  Colchis;  on  the  north  by  the 
Ocean,  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Caspian  Sea;  on  the  east  by  the 
same  sea,  as  far  as  the  confines  of  Armenia.  ” 

These  errors  were  corrected  by  Ptolemy,  but  subsequently  revived. 
See  Tozer,  History  of  Ancient  Geography,  345,  36 7; — Huntington,  The 
Pulse  of  Asia-, — Mackinder,  The  Geographical  Pivot  of  History,  in  Geo- 
graphical Journal,  xxiii,  422-437,  April,  1904; — Kropotkin,  The  Desic- 
cation of  Eurasia,  ibid.,  June,  1904. 


In  this  group  of  modern  Tibetans  may  be  found  all  the  types  mentioned  in 
the  closing  paragraphs  of  the  Periplus:  “the  men  with  flattened  noses,”  the 
“Horse-faces”  and  the  “Long-faces,”  of  § 62,  and  the  “men  with  short,  thick 
bodies  and  broad,  flat  faces”  of  § 65. 

65.  Besatae. — These  were  another  Tibeto-Burman  tribe,  allied 
to  the  Cirrhadae,  and  to  the  modern  Kuki-Chin,  Naga  and  Garo 


279 


tribes.  Ptolemy  places  them  east  of  the  Ganges,  and  corroborates 
the  Periplus  as  to  their  personal  appearance.  Lassen  (III,  38)  iden- 
tifies the  name  with  the  Sanscrit  vaisliada , 1 'wretchedly  stupid,”  and 
says  they  were  a tribe  of  Sikkim.  Our  author  locates  them  "on  the 
borders  of  the  Land  of  This,”  indicating  that  Tibet  was  then  subject 
to  China.  The  location  of  their  annual  fair  must  have  been  near  the 
modern  Gangtok  (27°  20'  N. , 88°  38'  E.)  above  which  the  Cho-La 
or  the  Jelap-La  Pass  leads  to  Chumbi  on  the  Tibetan  side  of  the  fron- 
tier, from  which  the  overland  route  mentioned  in  § 64  led  across 
the  table-land  to  Koko  Nor,  Siningfu  and  Singanfu.  Other  passes 
through  Nepal  are  possible,  particularly  that  by  the  Arun  River,  but 
the  route  through  Sikkim  involves  the  least  deviation  from  the  direct 
line  from  Koko  Nor  to  the  Ganges;  while  from  Gyangste  to  the 
source  of  the  Arun  a pass  must  be  scaled  higher  by  3000  feet  than 
Jelap-La.  (See  Freshfield,  The  Roads  to  Tibet,  in  Geographical  Journal, 
xxiii,  Jan.  and  March,  1904;  and  The  Highest  Mountain  in  the  World, 
ibid.,  xxi,  March,  1903;  — O’Connor,  Routes  in  Sikkim; — Louis,  Gates 
of  Tibet. ) 

Pseudo-Callisthenes  (III,  8)  refers  to  the  Bisada  "who  gather  a 
leaf.  They  are  a feeble  folk,  of  very  diminutive  stature,  and  live  in 
caves  among  the  rocks.  They  understand  how  to  climb  precipices 
through  their  intimate  knowledge  of  the  country  and  are  thus  able  to 
gather  the  leaf.  They  are  small  men  of  stunted  growth,  with  big 
heads  of  hair  which  is  straight  and  not  cut.”  (McCrindle,  Ancient 
India,  p.  180. ) 

Fergusson  ( History  of  Indian  Architecture,  I,  13)  says:  "The 
Tibetans  are  a fragment  of  a great  primitive  population  that  occu- 
pied both  the  northern  and  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas  at  some 
very  remote  prehistoric  time.  They  were  worshippers  of  trees  and 
serpents;  and  they,  and  their  descendants  and  connections,  in  Bengal, 
Ceylon,  Tibet,  Burma,  Siam  and  China,  have  been  the  bulwark  of 
Buddhism.  In  India  the  Dravidians  resisted  Buddhism  on  the  south,, 
and  a revival  of  Aryanism  abolished  it  in  the  north.” 

65.  Feast  for  several  days. — This  description  of  a tribal 
festival  and  market  resembles  many  accounts  of  other  primitive  peo- 
ples. Compare  the  following  from  Herodotus  (IV,  196)  : 

"The  Carthaginians  further  say  that  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Her- 
cules there  is  a region  of  Libya,  and  men  who  inhabit  it;  when  they 
arrive  among  these  people  and  have  unloaded  their  merchandise,  they 
set  it  in  order  on  the  shore,  go  on  board  their  ships,  and  make  a great 
smoke;  that  the  inhabitants,  seeing  the  smoke,  come  down  to  the 
sea,  and  then  deposit  gold  in  exchange  for  the  merchandise,  and  with- 


280 


draw  to  some  distance  from  the  merchandise;  that  the  Carthaginians 
then,  going  ashore,  examine  the  gold,  and  if  the  quantity  seems  suf- 
ficient for  the  merchandise,  they  take  it  up  and  sail  away;  but  if  it  is 
not  sufficient,  they  go  on  board  their  ships  again  and  wait;  the  natives 


On  a modern  trade-route  through  the  mountains  of  Sikkim.  The  shoulder- 
baskets  and  covers  of  matting  are  easily  distinguishable. 


281 


then  approach  and  deposit  more  gold,  until  they  have  satisfied  them ; 
neither  party  ever  wrongs  the  other;  for  they  do  not  touch  the  gold 
before  it  is  made  adequate  to  the  value  of  the  merchandise,  nor  do  the 
natives  touch  the  merchandise  before  the  other  party  has  taken  the 
gold.” 

Pomponius  Mela  (III,  viii,  60)  seems  also  to  speak  of  the  silent 
trade  of  the  Himalayas;  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  in  the  passage 
already  quoted,  tells  of  such  a custom  at  Tashkurghan,  the  * 'Stone 
Tower”  of  the  Pamirs,  where  silk  passed  from  Eastern  hands  to 
Western;  while  Fa-Hien,  describing  a similar  custom  in  Ceylon, 
ascribes  it  to  the  “spirits  and  nagas,  ” the  tutelary  guardians  of  the  pre- 
cious articles  of  trade.  ( Travels,  chap,  xxxviii.  ) 

65.  Great  packs  and  baskets. — The  same  thing  is  in  con- 
stant use  today  in  this  region,  being  the  regular  burden  of  the  coolies 
of  Nepal  and  Sikkim. 

65.  Petri.— Our  author  is  misled  by  a fancied  resemblance  to 
the  Greek  petros,  fiber;  the  word  is  the  Sanscrit  patra,  leaf.  Other- 
wise the  description  of  the  preparation  of  the  tamala.  leaves  is  correct, 
being  corroborated  throughout  by  Pliny. 

65.  Malabathrum. — T he  Cinnamomum  tamala  is  native  in  this 
part  of  the  Himalayas,  being  one  of  the  principal  trees. 

So  Marco  Polo  (II,  xlvi),  in  his  account  of  Tebet:  “It  contains 
in  several  quarters  rivers  and  lakes,  in  which  gold-dust  is  found  in 
great  abundance.  Cinnamon  also  grows  there  in  great  plenty.  Coral 
is  in  great  demand  in  this  country  and  fetches  a high  price,  for  they 
delight  to  hang  it  round  the  necks  of  their  women  and  of  their  idols.” 
(See  pp.  82-4,  87,  89,  216-18,  256.  ) 

66.  Influence  of  the  gods. — This  is  still  the  geography  of 
Brahman  writings.  Like  Tavernier  in  the  17th  century,  who  sum- 
marized the  Ramayana  in  his  Travels,  so  this  merchant  of  Berenice  in 
the  1st  century  came  under  the  spell  of  the  great  epics  of  India,  as  he 
sojourned  among 

“the  sister  nations  three, 

Cholas,  Cheras,  and  the  Pandyas  dwelling  by  the  southern  sea.” 

The  region  beyond  Sikkim,  “impassable  by  reason  of  its  great 
cold,”  and  including  the  mightiest  peaks  of  the  Himalayas,  was  within 
the  sphere  of  the  Kurukshetra  of  the  later  Vedas,  the  Brahmanas,  and 
the  Mahabharata,  the  home-land  of  the  Brahman  faith;  with  the 
greatest  of  all  mountains,  Everest,  is  associated  the  name  of  Gauri- 
sankar,  a name  of  Siva  and  Durga;  in  the  western  curve  of  the  great 


chain  is  the  sacred  peak  of  Kailas,  the  Olympus  of  the  Hindu  gods, 
the  axis  of  the  universe  and  the  way  to  heaven;  while  the  ending  of 
the  Periplus  is  that  of  the  Sita-quest  in  the  Ramayana : 

“Halt  not  till  you  reach  the  country  where  the  northern  Kurus  rest, 
Utmost  confines  of  the  wide  earth,  home  of  Gods  and  Spirits  blest!” 


283 


284 


ARTICLES  OF  TRADE  MENTIONED  IN  THE  PERIPLUS 

Enumerated  according  to  the  ports 


Red  Sea  Coast. 

Ptolemais. 

( Exports  ) 

Tortoise-shell 

Ivory. 

Adulis. 

( Imports  ) 

Undressed  cloth  from  Egypt 
Robes  from  Arsinoe 
Cloaks  of  poor  quality,  dyed 
Double-fringed  linen  mantles 
Flint  glass,  in  many  forms 
Murrhine  (glass  imitation  made 
in  Diospolis) 

Brass  (for  ornament  and  in  cut 
pieces  as  coin) 

Sheets  of  soft  copper  (for  cook- 
ing-utensils, and  bracelets 
and  anklets) 

Iron  (for  spears) 

Axes,  adzes  and  swords 
Copper  drinking-cups,  round 
and  large 
Coin,  a little 

Wine  of  Laodicea  and  Italy 
Olive  oil 

Presents  for  the  king : gold  and 
silver  plate,  military  cloaks, 
thin  coats  of  skin 
Indian  iron  and  steel  (from 
Ariaca) 

Indian  cotton  cloth  (the  broad 
monache) , also  the  sagma- 
togene,  perhaps  raw  cotton 
Girdles 
Coats  of  skin 
Mallow-colored  cloth 
Muslins 
Lac. 

( Exports  ) 

Ivory 

Tortoise-shell 

Rhinoceros-horn. 


Horn  of  Africa  (The  “far-side” 

coast) . 

Avalites. 

( Imports) 

Flint  glass,  assorted 
Juice  of  sour  grapes  from  Di- 
ospolis 

Dressed  cloth,  assorted 

Wheat 

Wine 

Tin. 

( Exports  partly  to  Ocelis  and 
Muza) 

Ivory 

Tortoise-shell 

Myrrh  (better  than  :.  , rest). 
Malao. 

( Imports  ) 

The  things  already  mentioned. 

Also 

Tunics 

Cloaks  from  Arsinoe,  dressed 
and  dyed 
Drinking  cups 
Sheets  of  soft  copper 
Iron 

Gold  and  silver  coin. 

( Exports ) 

Myrrh 

Frankincense  (the  far-side) 
Cinnamon  (the  harder) 

Duaca  (var.  of  frankincense) 
Indian  copal 

Macir  (medicinal  bark  from 
Malabar) 

(These  exports  going  to  Arabia) 
Slaves,  rarely. 

Mundus. 

( Imports  ) 

The  things  already  mentioned. 
( Exports  ) 

The  things  already  mentioned; 
also 


285 


Mocrotu  (var.  of  frankincense). 
Mosyllum. 

( Imports ) 

The  things  already  mentioned ; 
also 

Silver  plate 
Iron,  very  little 
Glass. 

( Exports ) 

Cinnamon,  in  great  quantity 

Fragrant  gums  and  spices 

Tortoise-shell 

Mocrotu  incense 

Frankincense  (the  far-side) 

Ivory 

Myrrh. 

Elephant  River. 

[Exports) 

Frankincense  (the  best  far-side) 
Market  of  Spices  (Cape  Guarda- 
fui ) . 

( Imports ) 

The  things  already  mentioned. 

( Exports ) 

Cinnamon  (varieties,  gizir, 
asyp/ia,  arebo,  magla , 
rnoto) 

Frankincense. 

Opone. 

( Imports ) 

The  things  already  mentioned. 

( Exports ) 

Cinnamon  (the  better  sort,  arebo 
and  moto,  in  great  quantity) 
Slaves  of  the  better  sort,  for 
Egypt,  in  increasing  num- 
bers 

Tortoise-shell,  good  quality, 
in  great  quantity 
(Goods  brought  in  Indian  ships 
to  this  and  the  preceding  far- 
side  ports) '. 

Wheat 

Rice 

Clarified  butter 
Sesame  oil 

Cotton  cloth  (the  monache , also 
sagmatogcn?) 

Girdles 

Honey  from  the  reed  called 
sacchari. 


East  Africa. 

Rhapta,  Menuthias,  &c. 

( Imports , chiefly  in  Arabian  ships) 
Lances  made  at  Muza 
Hatchets,  daggers  and  awls 
Glass,  various  kinds 
Wine,  a little 

Wheat,  for  free  distribution  to 
the  savages. 

( Exports ) 

Ivory  (in  great  quantity,  but 
inferior  to  that  of  Adulis) 
Rhinoceros-horn 
Tortoise-shell  (the  best  after 
that  from  India) 

Palm-oil,  a little. 

Arabia. 

Muza. 

( Imports ) 

Purple  cloths,  fine  and  coarse 
Clothing  in  Arabian  styles,  with 
sleeves;  (plain,  ordinary, 
embroidered,  or  interwo- 
ven with  gold) 

Saffron 

Sweet-rush 

Muslins 

Cloaks 

Blankets,  plain  and  in  the  local 
fashion 

Sashes  of  different  colors 
Fragrant  ointments 
Wine  and  wheat  (not  much,  the 
country  producing  both) 
Presents  to  the  King  and  Chief : 
horses,  sumpter  - mules, 
vessels  of  gold  and  polished 
silver,  finely  woven  cloth- 
ing, copper  vessels. 

( Exports , the  products  of  the 
country) 

Myrrh,  selected 
Myrrh,  the  Gebanite-Minasan 
stacte 
Alabaster 

All  the  things  already  men- 
tioned from  Avalites  and  the 
far-side  coast. 


286 


Cana  (which  has  trade  with  Egypt, 
the  far-side  coast,  India  and  the 
Persian  Gulf). 

( Imports ) 

Wheat  and  wine;  a little,  as  at 
Muza 

Clothing  in  the  Arabian  style, 
poor  quality 
Coppei 
Tin 
Cora. 

Storax 

Other  things  such  as  go  to  Muza 
Presents  for  the  king:  wrought 
gold  and  silver  plate, 
horses,  images,  thin  cloth- 
ing of  fine  quality. 

( Exports , the  native  produce) 
Frankincense 
Aloes 

The  rest  of  the  things  men- 
tioned from  the  other  ports. 
Dioscorida  Island. 

( Exports ) 

Tortoise-shell,  various  kinds 
Indian  cinnabar  (dragon’s 
blood) . 

( Imports , brought  by  merchants 
from  Muza  and  by  chance 
calls  of  ships  returning 
from  India) 

Rice 
Wheat 
Indian  cloth 
Female  slaves,  a few 
Moscha. 

( Imports ) 

Cloth 
Wheat 
Sesame  oil. 

{Exports) 

Frankincense. 

Sarapis  Island. 

{Exports,  to  Cana,  at  regular  in- 
tervals) 

Tortoise-shell. 

Persian  Gulf. 

Ommana  and  Apologus. 

{Imports) 

Copper 

Sandalwood 


Teak  wood  timbers 
Blackwood  logs  (from  India) 
Ebony  logs  “ “ 

Frankincense  ( from  Cana  to 
Ommana) . 

{Exports) 

Sew'ed  boats  called  madarata 
(from  Ommana  to  South 
Arabia) 

Pearls,  inferior  to  the  Indian 
Purple 

Clothing,  after  the  fashion  of 
the  place 
Wine 

Dates,  in  great  quantity 
Gold 

Slaves  (to  both  India  and  S. 
Arabia) 

Makran  Coast. 

Or^ea. 

{Exports) 

Wheat 

Wine 

Rice 

Dates 

Bdellium. 

Indo-Scythia. 

Barbaricum  (at  mouth  of  Indus 
river). 

{Imports) 

Thin  clothing,  in  large  quantity, 
some  spurious 
Figured  linens 
Topaz 
Coral 
Storax 

Frankincense 
Vessels  of  glass 
Silver  and  gold  plate 
Wine,  a little. 

( Exports) 

Costus 

Bdellium 

Lycium 

Nard 

Turquoise 
Lapis  lazuli 

Seric  skins  » 

Cotton  cloth 
Silk  yam 
Indigo. 


287 


India  (the  kingdom  of  Nambanus). 

Barygaza. 

( Imports ) 

Wine : Italian  preferred,  also 
Laodicean  and  Arabian 
Copper 
Tin 
Lead 
Coral 
Topaz 

Thin  clothing  and  inferior  sorts 
of  all  kinds 

Bright-colored  girdles  a cubit 
wide 
Storax 

Sweet  clover 
Flint  glass 
Realgar 
Antimony 

Gold  and  silver  coin  (yielding 
a profit  on  the  exchange) 
Ointments,  not  costly,  a little 
Presents  for  the  King: 

Costly  vessels  of  silver, 
singing  boys,  beautiful 
maidens  for  the  harem,  fine 
wines,  thin  clothing  of  the 
finest  weaves,  the  choicest 
ointments. 

( Exports ) 

Spikenard  (coming  through 
Scythia,  also  through  Po- 
clais,  from  Caspapyra,  Pa- 
ropanisus  and  Cabolitis) 
Costus 
Bdellium 
Ivory 

Agate  and  carnelian  (onyx  and 
murrhine) 

Lycium 

Cotton  cloth  of  all  kinds  (mus- 
lins and  ordinary) 

Silk  cloth 

Mallow-cloth 

Yam 

Long  pepper 

OtheF  things  coming  from  the 
various  ports. 


India  ( Chera  and  Pandya  kingdoms). 
Muziris,  Nelcynda  and  Bacare; 
(to  which  large  ships  come  for 
pepper  and  malabathrum ). 

( Imports ) 

Coin,  in  great  quantity 
Topaz 

Thin  clothing,  not  much 
Figured  linens 
Antimony 
Coral 

Crude  glass 
Copper 
Tin 
Lead 

Wine,  not  much,  but  as  much 
as  at  Barygaza 
Realgar 
Orpiment 

Wheat  (for  the  sailors,  the 
country  not  producing  it) . 

( Exports ) 

Pepper,  produced  in  Cottorara 
Fine  pearls  in  great  quantity 
Ivory 
Silk  cloth 

Spikenard  from  the  Ganges 
Malabathrum  from  the  interior 
Transparent  stones  of  all  kinds 
Diamonds 
Sapphires 

Tortoise-shell,  from  Chryse 
and  from  near-by  islands 

India  (Chbla  kingdom) 

Argaru  (inland) 

( Exports ) 

Pearls 

Muslins  (named from  the  place) 
India  (East  Coast). 

Camara,  Poduca  and  Sopatma 
(where  ships  come  from  the 
west  coast,  also  from  the  Gan- 
ges and  Chryse). 

(. Imports ) 

Everything  made  in  Damirica 
and  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries and  most  of  what 
comes  from  Egypt. 


288 


Ceylon. 

PaL*SIMUNDU,  FORMERLY  CALLED 

Taprobane. 

( Exports ) 

Pearls 

Transparent  stones 

Muslins 

Tortoise-shell. 

India  (East  Coast,  farther  north) 

Masalia. 

( Exports) 

Muslins,  in  great  quantity. 
Dosarene. 

( Exports ) 

Ivory. 

India  (Ganges  delta). 

Ganges. 

( Exports ) 

Malabathrum 
Gangetic  spikenard 
Pearls 

Muslins  of  the  finest  sort,  called 
Gangetic. 


(The  place  has  a gold  coin 
called  caltis). 

Malacca. 

Chryse  Island. 

( Exports ) 

Tortoise-shell,  the  best  of  all. 

China. 

Thin.*. 

(Difficult  of  access;  few  men 
come  from  there,  and  seldom) 
( Exports , overland  through  Bac- 
tria  to  Barygaza,  also  by 
way  of  the  Ganges  to  Da- 
rn irica) 

Raw  silk 
Silk  yam 
Silk  cloth. 

Himalaya  mountains. 

The  Besat*. 

( Exports ) 

Malabathrum ; in  three  forms, 
the  large -ball,  the  medium- 
ball,  and  the  small-ball. 


289 


ARTICLES  SUBJECT  TO  DUTY  AT  ALEXANDRIA 

FROM  THE  RESCRIPT  CONCERNING  EASTERN  TRADE  IN  THE 
DIGEST  OF  THE  ROMAN  LAW,  XXXIX,  XV,  5,  7. 

Classified  as  follows: 


(1)  Precious  stones , etc. 

Diamond  ( adamas ) 

Alabanda 

Beryl 

Ceraunium 

Alabaster  (onyx  arabicus) 

Lapis  lazuli 

Sardonyx 

Emerald 

Sapphire 

Garnet  (alabanda) 

Pearls  and  pearl  shell 
Tortoise  shell 
Ivory. 

( 2 ) Vegetable  products  •valued  for  their 
fragrance : as  incense,  per- 
fume, or  medicine. 

Aloe 

Amomuin 

Galbanum 

Ginger 

Incense  gums 

Gum  dammar 

Cardamom 

Caryophyllon 

Cassia 

Cinnamon 

Xylo-cassia 

Costus 

Asafoetida 


Frankincense,  Arabian  and  Af- 
rican 

Malabathrum 

Sugar 

Myrrh 

Spikenard 

Nard 

Pepper 

Sarcogalla 

Stacte 

Agallochum. 

( 3 ) Dyes. 

Lac 

Fucus  (rock  lichen  or  orchil). 
(4)  Textile. 

Byssus  (flax  cloth? ) 

Muslins 
Cotton  cloth 
Wool  (Tibetan?) 

Capilli  Indici(?) 

Silk,  yarn  and  cloth. 

( 5 ) Metal 

Indian  steel  (Haidarabad). 

( 6 ) Animal. 

Tigers 

Leopards 

Panthers 

Lions  and  lionesses 
Babylonian  skins. 

(7)  Human 

Eunuchs. 


290 


DATE  OF  THE  PERIPLUS,  AS  DETERMINED  BY 
VARIOUS  COMMENTATORS 

The  dates  assigned  fall  into  three  groups.  The  first,  which 
dates  the  Periplus  before  Pliny,  assumes  the  trade  to  have  been  that 
which  existed  under  Nero,  and  includes  the  possibility  that  Pliny 
quoted  from  or  summarized  the  Periplus  in  his  description  of  Arabia 
Felix.  The  latest  date  possible  under  these  suppositions  is  the  end  of 
the  reign  of  Malichas,  whose  inscriptions  indicate  that  he  ruled  be- 
tween 40  and  70  A.  D. 

The  second  group  depends  on  the  identification  of  Zoscales  with 
Za  Hakale  in  the  Abyssinian  Chronicle,  whose  dates  were  given  by 
Henry  Salt  as  76  to  89  A.  D.  The  dependence  placed  on  these  two 
dates,  on  which  Salt  himself  cast  doubt,  is  surprising  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  he  antedated  two  kings  in  the  list  (El  Abreha  and  El  Atzbeha) 
more  than  100  years,  to  bring  them  within  the  reigns  of  the  Roman 
emperors  Constantine  and  Constantius,  who  are  known  to  have  had 
relations  with  them;  and  if  so  great  a liberty  can  be  taken  with  the 
monarchs  of  the  fourth  century,  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
one  of  the  first  century  may  be  a score  of  years  out  of  his  proper 
order.  The  supposed  confirmation  of  these  dates  by  mention  of 
contemporary  Indian  rulers  points  to  an  earlier  date  during  the  period 
of  their  viceroyalties  rather  than  of  their  reigns. 

The  third  group  of  identifications  depends  on  the  reference  in 
tne  text  to  the  “emperors,”  assuming  this  to  be  a time  when  there 
were  two  Roman  emperors  reigning  jointly.  This  assumption  is 
entirely  unnecessary. 

First  group: 

“In  the  middle  of  the  first  century  after  Christ,  nearly  contem- 
porary with  Pliny.  ” 

Salmasius,  Exercitationes  Plinianee,  835. 

“A  little  earlier  than  Pliny.” 

Mannert,  Geographic  der  Griechen  und  Romer  aus  ihren  Schrif- 
ten  dargestellt,  Niirnberg,  1799,  I,  131. 

“Soon  after  Claudius;  about  the  tenth  year  of  Nero”  (which 
would  be  63  A.  D.). 

Vincent,  II,  59. 

“Under  Claudius  or  a little  later.” 

Ukert,  Geographic  der  Griechen  und  Romer,  Weimar,  1816, 
I,  i,  209. 


291 


“60  A.  D.” 

Benfey,  article  Indien  in  Ersch  and  Gruber’s  Encyklopiidie, 
Sect.  II,  Vol.  7,  p.  90:  Leipzig,  1840. 

Lassen,  Indisc  he  A Iterthumskunde,  II,  538;  III,  3. 

“Unquestionably  before  Pliny’s  Natural  History.” 

Schwanbeck,  in  Rheinischen  Museum,  VII,  338. 

“A  little  earlier  than  Pliny,  who  seems  to  quote  from  it;  that  is, 
prior  to  77  A.  D.  ’ ’ 

Dillmann,  in  Berichte  der  K.  Preuss.  Akad.  der  IVisscnschaften, 
1879,  pp.  413-429. 

“Nearly  contemporary  with  Pliny,  written  before  the  dedication 
of  the  Natural  History  in  77  A.  D.’  ’ 

Fabricius,  p.  27. 

“56-67  A.  D.” 

Glaser,  in  Ausland , Munchen,  1891,  pp.  45-6. 

Skvzze  der  Geschichte  und  Geographic  Arabiens,  II, 

164. 

“Next  before  Pliny.” 

Robertson,  Disquisition  on  Ancient  India. 

“60-63  A.  D.” 

Watt,  Commercial  Products  of  India,  p.  371,  etc. 

“56-71  A.  D.,  as  shown  by  Glaser.” 

“Before  77  A.  D.” 

Speck,  Handelsgeschichte  des  Altertums,  I,  35;  III,  2b.,  919. 

“During  the  reign  of  Malik  III,  King  of  the  Nabataeans,  40-70 
A.  D.” 

Vogue,  Syrie  Centrale:  Inscriptions  Semitiques,  p.  107. 
(Paris,  1869.) 

“During  the  reign  of  Kariba-il  Watar  Juhan’im,  the  Homerite 
King,  about  40“70  A.  D.  ” 

Glaser,  Die  Abessinier  in  Arabien  und  Africa,  pp.  37-8. 

“During  the  reign  of  Ili-azzu  Jalit,  King  of  the  Hadramaut, 
about  25-65  A.  D.” 

Glaser,  Die  Abessinier , etc.,  p.  34. 

“The  author  made  his  voyages  at  various  times  between  65  and 
75  or  80  A.  D.  The  work  was  written  in  the  last  quarter  of 
the  first- century  A.  D.” 

Haig,  The  Indus  Delta  Country,  28. 


292 


Second  group: 

“80-89  A.  D.” 

C.  Muller,  Geographi  Greed  Minores , I,  xcvi;  depending 
on  the  doubtful  dates  given  Za  Hakale  by  Henry  Salt,  in 
his  rearrangement  of  the  Abyssinian  Chronicle  in  1812. 

“75  A.  D.” 

Bunsen,  de  A%ania  commentatio  philologica,  Bonn,  1852. 

“80-85  A.  D.” 

Vivien  de  Saint  Martin,  Histoire  de  la  Geographic  et  des  d'ecou- 
vertes  g'eographiques,  1873 ; also  Le  Nord  de  /’  A 'frique  dans 
F antiquit’e  grecque  et  romaine. 

“77-89  A.  D.,  as  shown  by  Muller.” 

Bunbury,  History  of  Ancient  Geography , II,  445 ; London, 
1883. 

“About  10  years  after  Pliny’s  death”  (which  occurred  in  79  A.  D.) 

Tozer,  History  of  Ancient  Geography,  p.  274 : Cambridge,  1897. 

“About  90  A.  D.”  (referring  to  Nahapana,  the  Nambanus  of 
§ 41), 

A.-M.  Boyer,  in  Journal  Asiatique , Paris,  July-Aug. , 1897, 
pp.  120-151. 

“83-84  A.  D.”  (referring  to  Sundara  Satakarni,  the  Sandares 
of  § 52). 

C.  R.  Wilson,  in  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal , 
June,  1904. 

“Between  77  and  105  A.  D.” 

Vincent  Smith,  Early  History  of  India , p.  371,  etc. 

“Between  80  and  89  A.  D.” 

McCrindle,  in  Indian  Antiquary , VIII,  108-151. 

“About  85  A.  D.” 

J.  F.  Fleet,  article  Epigraphy , in  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India , 
new  edition,  II,  76. 


Third  group. 

The  following  belong  to  the  curiosities  of  criticism,  all  being 
based  on  the  “emperors”  of  § 23: 

“In  the  2d  century  A.  D.,  later  than  161,  under  Marcus  Aure- 
lius and  Lucius  Verus.  ” 

Dodwell,  in  Hudson’s  Geographies  Veteris  Scriptores,  pp.  85-105. 
Heeren,  De  Inaia  Romanis  cognita,  in  Commentationes  societatis 
regies  scientiarum.  Gottingen,  1793,  XI,  101. 


293 


“Apparently  of  the  1st,  or  at  latest  of  the  2d  century  A.  D.” 
Heeren,  Ideen  iiber  die  Politii,  den  Verkehr  und  den  Handel  der 
vornehmsten  Volker  der  aiten  Welt.  Gottingen,  1824, 
I,  iii,  316. 

“A  ship’s  log  of  the  2d  century  A.  D.” 

Bohlen,  Das  alte  Indien,  mit  besonderer  Riicksicht  auf  Aegypten. 
Konigsberg,  1830,  I,  71. 

“A  merchant  of  Alexandria  who  lived  in  the  first  half  of  the  2d 
century  A.  D.” 

Kiilb,  Lander-  und  V'olkerkunde  in  Biographien,  Berlin,  1 846, 
I,  245. 

“Of  the  2d  century  A.  D.  ” 

Ritter,  Geschichte  der  Erdkunde  und  der  Entdeckungen,  Berlin, 
1861,  p.  124;  also  Erdkunde  Asiens,  IV,  1. 

“Of  the  1st  or,  rather,  the  following  century.” 

Ritter,  Erdkunde  Asiens , VIII,  1. 

“Of  the  3d  century.  ” 

Letronne,  Christianisme  de  Nubie,  47. 

“200-217  A.  D.” 

Letronne,  in  Nouveau  Recueil  de  /’  A cad'emie  des  Inscriptions ,. 

IX,  173. 

Alex.  v.  Humboldt,  Kritischen  Untersuchungen,  I,  315. 
Kosmos,  II,  458. 

Forbiger,  Handbuche  der  aiten  Geographe  aus  den  Quellen 
bearbeitet , Leipzig,  1842,  I,  442. 

“246-247  A.  D.,  under  the  emperor  Philip  and  his  son.” 

Reinaud,  in  Journal  Asiatique,  series  V,  vol.  18,  Paris,  1861. 

p.  226. 

Reinaud,  M'emoires  de  ! A cad'emie  des  I ascriptions  et  belles  lettres, 
vol.  xxiv,  pp.  227-278  (1864). 

O.  Peschel,  Geschichte  der  Erdkunde , Miinchen,  1865. 

These  views  are  vigorously  combated  by 

O.  Blau,  in  /eitschrift  der  Deutschen  Morgenlandischcn  Gesell- 
schaft,  xxii,  656. 

A.  Weber,  lndische  Streife , II,  266  (1869). 

Vivien  de  Saint  Martin,  Le  Nord  de  f Afrique  dans  J antiquite 
grecque  et  romaine,  1863,  p.  197. 

Dillmann,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  414-428. 


294 


RULERS  MENTIONED  IN  THE  PERIPLUS 

5.  Zoscales,  king  of  the  people  called  Axumites. 

(Dates  fixed  by  Salt  in  1804  as  76-89  A.  D. ; his  conclu- 
sions, depending  on  an  arbitrary  arrangement  of  the  Abys- 
sinian Chronicle,  as  he  said  himself,  are  “not  to  be  de- 
pended upon;’’  a more  probable  period  for  this  reign 
would  be  59-72  A.  D.) 

19.  Malichas,  king  of  the  Nabataeans. 

(Mentioned  also  by  Josephus,  Bell.  Iud.,  Ill,  4,  2.  In- 
scriptions cited  by  Vogue  fix  his  dates  as  40-70  A.  D.) 

23.  Charibael,  king  of  the  Homerites  and  Sabaites. 

(Inscriptions  cited  by  Glaser  fix  his  reign  about  40-70  A.  D. ) 

23.  The  Emperors. 

( Probably  Claudius  and  Nero,  41-54  and  54-68  respectively.  ) 

27.  Eleazus,  king  of  the  Frankincense  Country. 

( Inscriptions  cited  by  Glaser  fix  his  reign  about  25-65  A.  D.  ) 

38.  Parthian  princes  at  war  with  each  other. 

(Probably  within  the  decade  following  the  death  of  Gon- 
dophares,  which  occurred  51  A.  D.) 

41.  Nambanus,  king  of  Ariaca. 

(Perhaps  Nahapana,  the  Saka  satrap — or  a predecessor  of 
that  name — but  before  the  victories  which  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Saka  era  of  78  A.  D.) 

52.  The  elder  Saraganus,  who  had  previously  governed  Calliena. 

( Probably  ArishtaSatakarni,  then  the  Andhra  king,  who  ruled 
about  44-69  A.  D.  ; whose  court  was  held  at  his  eastern 
capital,  Dhanyakataka,  so  that  to  the  author  of  the  Periplus, 
landing  on  the  west  coast,  he  was  no  more  than  a name, 
and  the  visible  authority  was  vested  in  the  western  viceroy.) 

52.  Sandares,  who  possessed  Calliena. 

(Probably  Sundara  Satakarni — who  ruled  as  Andhra  king  in 
83-4  A.  D. — but  before  his  accession  to  the  throne,  while 
as  one  of  the  heirs  presumptive  he  was  acting  as  viceroy  at 
Paethana,  toward  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Arishta  Satakarni, 
the  ‘ ‘elder  Saraganus.  ’ ’) 


295 


INDEX 

References  to  the  text  are  in  bold-faced  type;  to  the  notes  in  light-faced 


Abalit,  73 

Abasa,  62,  124,  145,  146 
Abaseni.  See  Abyssinians,  Habashat, 
62,  140,  145 

Abd-er-Razzak,  147,  203 
Abd-es-Shems,  108 
Abiria  (Abhira),  39,  175,  257 
Abissa  Polis,  62,  140 
Abraham,  135,  162 
absinth,  Persian,  157 
Abu  Thabi,  150 
Abu  Thanni,  150 
Abydos  , 158 

Abyssinia  (see  Axumites),  5,  6,  7,  8, 
57,  59,  60,  62,  63,  64,  66,  73, 
75,  77,  88,  92,  96,  99,  106, 
107,  109,  119,  141,  142,  153, 
167,  172,  179,  230,  271 
Abyssinian  Chronicle,  9,  64,  66,  67, 
133,  200 

Abyssinian  Church,  75 
acacia,  87,  113,  130,  131 
Acannae,  26,  85 

Accadian-Dravidian  trade,  173,  175 
Achaea,  71 

Achaemenidae,  the,  221 
achates.  See  agate,  223 
Achenkoil  river,  212 
Acila 

(in  S.  W.  Arabia),  114 
(in  S.  E.  Arabia),  147,  237 
Ad,  Adites,  141,  142 
adamant,  155 
adamas,  222,  224 
Adam’s  Bridge,  234,  241 
Adams,  Brooks,  220 
Aden,  74,  75,  80,  85,  101,  109,  115, 
116,  118,  227 

Aden,  gulf  of,  3,  4,  52,  75,  85,  138 
Adi-Ganga,  255 
Adler,  Nathan,  164 
Adonis,  131,  138 

Adulis,  22,  23,  29,  52,  60,  61,  63, 
65,  67,  96,  114,  141,  209,  228, 
251,  252 
adzes,  24 

Aegean  islands,  77 

Aegidii,  island  of  the,  44,  202 

Aelana,  108 

Aelius  Gallus,  10,  108 

Aesculapius,  131 

Aesopus,  240 

Aethiopia,  29,  58,  59,  62,  66,  69, 
83,  153,  159,  167,  218,  250 


Aethiopia  (continued) 

language,  146.  (See  Geez) 
Aethiopians,  62,  117,  119,  134,  146, 
213 

Asiatic,  162,  163 
dynasty  in  Egypt,  162 
Aetna,  133 

Afghanistan,  177,  184,  186,  187,  190, 
223 

Africa,  3,  5,  10,  29,  52,  56,  74,  75, 
76,  77,  87,  88,  89,  92,  94,  96, 
97,  99,  106,  109,  118,  119, 
129,  130,  134,  135,  136,  138, 
141,  142,  156,  160,  161,  163, 
164,  175,  176,  177,  178,  210, 
217,  218,  226,  228,  271 
trade  from  interior  of,  75 
Arab  slave  trade  in,  96,  161 
circumnavigation  of,  101 
Southern  extension  of,  101 
negroes  of,  163 
African  rift-valley,  98 
agate,  42,  193,  223 
Agatharchides,  4,  15,  50,  51,  52,  63, 
87,  102,  115,  118,  133,  160 
Agisymba,  98 
Agni,  229 
Agra,  179 
Ahmadabad,  179 
Aizanas  (el  Abreha),  60,  61,  67 
Ajanta,  196,  244,  247 
Akaba,  Gulf  of,  101,  102 
Akko,  129 
Aksu,  268 

alabandic  stone,  alabandenum,  223, 
251 

alabaster,  31,  114 
Alalasi  islands,  23,  61,  66 
Alaric,  214 
Alashia  (Cyprus),  78 
Albanians,  277 

Alexander  the  Great,  4,  39,  41,  42, 
51,  58,  69,  70,  123,  131,  149, 
161,  162,  164,  166,  170,  180, 
184,  187,  189,  264 

Alexander,  the  sailor,  (See  Marinus 
of  Tyre),  260 

Alexandria,  5,  16,  32,  65,  76,  77, 
101,  103,  125,  132,  167,  214, 
232,  239 
Alfragan,  55 
Algeria,  168,  192 
Alilat  = Urania,  132 
alkanet,  112 


296 


Allazi,  17 

Alleppey,  211 

almonds,  oil  of,  113 

aloes,  33,  129,  139,  141,  145,  250 

’Am  = Amon,  132 

Amara,  country  of,  87,  88,  230 

Amaravati,  195 

amber,  259,  276 

ambergris,  130,  157 

Amenemhet  I,  121 

amethyst,  226 

Amhara,  57 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  102,  267,  281 
amomum,  112 

Amon,  Amon-Re,  78,  121,  122,  124, 
132,  158,  228 
Amos,  Book  of,  193,  264 
Amoy  (see  Zayton),  214 
Amphila,  66 
Amritsar,  180 

Amu  Daria.  (See  Oxus),  277 
Anaimalai  Hills,  204 
Anam,  90,  263,  276 
Anariaci,  277 

anchors,  anchorage,  25, 26,  27,  30,  31, 
38,  40,  44,  182 

andanic,  70 

Andhra,  195,  196,  197,  198,  199,  200, 
204,  235,  236,  243,  252,  253 
coinage,  198,  243,  244,  245 
ship-symbol,  243,  244,  245 
Angkor-Wat,  261 
An-hsi  (see  Parthia),  276,  277 
animism,  131-2,  236-7,  253 
anise,  213 
Anjengo,  234 
Anjidiv  (see  Aegidii),  202 
Anneslev  Bay,  60,  66 
Annius  Plocamus,  8 
anointing  oil,  Hebrew,  111,  113,  169 
Ansichow,  268 
antelope  horns,  74 
Antichthones,  continent  of,  252 
Antigonus,  102 
antimony,  42,  45,  190,  192 
Antioch',  65,  76,  77,  149,  275 
Antiochia  (Charax),  149 
Antiochia  Margiana  (Merv), 
268,  269 
Antiochus,  111 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  147,  160 
Antiochus  Hierax,  123 
Antiochus  Theos,  184 
Antiphili  Portus  (see  Amphila),  66 
Antony,  Mark,  103,  240 
ants,  gold-digging  (see Tibetan  gold), 
259 

An-tun  ( Marcus  Aurelius  Antonius), 
586 

Aparantika,  175 

apes,  61,  113,  121,  175 

Apirus  river  (see  Ophir),  160,  175 

Apollo,  123,  132,  138 

Apollodotus,  42,  184,  185 


Apollo’s  Valley,  86 
Apologus,  36,  149,  151,  153 
apyron  gold  (see  Ophir),  160 
aquamarine,  222 

Arabia,  4,  14,  16,  25,  28,  29,  30,  31, 
36,  44,  58,  60,  63,  64,  71,  75, 
80,  82,  83,  89,  96,  97,  98,  99, 
103,  104,  105,  106,  109,  115, 
117,  118,  119,  121,  124,  128, 
130,  132,  133,  134,  135,  140, 
141,  142,  147,  150,  151,  154, 

157,  158,  160,  163,  164,  168, 

176,  177,  192,  198,  210,  228, 

230,  232,  233,  270 

Sovereignty  of  the  state  that  is 
first  in,  96,  97 
Arabia  Felix,  10,  132 
Araby  the  Blest,  143 
Arabia  Petraea,  102 
Arabian  Gulf,  4,  24,  63 
Alps,  1 16 

caravan  trade,  102,  103,  104 
geographers,  115 
ianguage,  35,  146 
sea,  159 

Arabian  shipping,  89,  97,  118,  148, 
155,  201,  228 

down  coast  of  East  Africa,  96 
Arabic  language,  104 
Arabis,  river,  161,  162 
Arabs,  3,  4,  5,  28,  30,  34,  59,  62,  88, 
89,  96,  97,  98,  101,  104,  105, 
107,  109,  121,  123,  125,  126, 
127,  131,  132,  135,  145,  149, 
150,  152,  161,  162,  217,  247 
infusion  with  negroes  in  E.  Af- 
rica, 98 

in  Sumatra  and  Java,  127 
historians,  142 
of  India,  161,  162 
Arachosii,  41,  183,  189 
Arad-Ea,  135 
Arakan,  252 
Aral  Sea,  277 
Aram,  142 
Aramaeans,  102 

Aramaic  language,  104 
Arattii  (Arashtra),  41,  183 
Arctic  Circle,  27 
Arctic  Ocean,  277 
Arcturus,  221 
arebo,  26,  27 
Ares,  132 

Aretas  (Hareth),  11,  103 
Argaru  (see  Uraiyur),  46,  241 
Aria,  189,  269 

Ariaca,  24,  27,  39,  70,  87,  174,  175, 
210 

Arib,  109 

Arishta  Satakami,  189,  199,  200 
Aristotle,  264,  266 
Arjuna,  254 
Armenia,  14,  150,  278 
Arnold,  Matthew,  187 


297 


Arphaxad,  107 

Arrian,  7,  15,  161,  161,  164,  170, 
184,  189,  218,  259 
Arsacid  dynasty,  61,  65,  127,  161 
arsenic,  151,  191,  192,  221 
Arsinoe,  24,  52,  69 
Artemidorus,  66,  114 
Arun  river,  272,  279 
Awe,  the  serpent,  67,  111 
Aryans,  174,  187,  202,  210,  228, 
229,  210,  215,  218,  241,  250, 
251,  254,  257,  264 
Aryanism  (Brahmanism),  279 
Asabon,  Asabi,  36,  108,  147,  148 
Asachae  (see  Asich),  61,  62 
asafoetida,  177 
asbestos  cloth,  276 
Ascitae  (see  Asich),  62,  126,  145 
Ash-shihr  (see  Es-shehr),  110 
Ashur,  121 

Asia,  60,  92,  112,  151,  156,  161,  171, 
172,  176,  185,  186,  194,  222, 
216,  260,  261,  266,  270,  275, 
278 

Asia  Minor,  5,  58,  76,  128,  211 
Asiatics  of  the  desert,  192 
Asich  (see  Axum),  35,  62,  118,  126, 
146 

Asmiraea  (see  Tsiemo),  268 
Asoka,  175,  180,  188,  195,  204,  215, 
216,  218,  249 
aspralathus,  112 

Assam,  84,  194,  254,  255,  259,  264, 
267 

asses,  61 
Asshur,  107 
Assuan,  57,  61 
Assurbanipal,  58 
Assyria,  118,  121,  160,  171,  269 
Assyrian  inscriptions,  74,  92,  121, 
128,  149,  160 
Astabora  river,  59 
Astacampra,  39,  40 
Astaphus  river,  59 
Astola,  162 
Astomi,  267 

astrobolus  (see  cat’s  eye),  221 
Asvavadana  (see  Horse-faces),  254 
asypha,  26 

Atbara  river  (Astabora),  56,  57,  61 

Athenaeus,  15 

Athenodorus,  102 

Atlantic  Ocean,  1,  10,  81,  190 

Atramitas  (see  Chatramotitae),  124 

Attacori,  260 

Attana,  150 

Attock,  189 

atybb , 62 

Augustus,  5,  61,  111,  140,  149,  150, 
157,  187,  219,  220,  264,  265 
Aulus  Hirtius,  101 
AUM,  118,  119 

Aurannoboas  ( Aranya-vaha?  ),  43, 
202,  258 


Aurea  Chersonesus  (see  Chryse), 
259,  260 
Aurelian,  265 

Ausal,  Ausan,  Ausar,  74,  96,  115, 
146,  267 

Ausanitic  coast,  28,  74,  94,  96,  115 
Austrian  South  Arabian  Expedition, 
109,  119,  116,  119 
Auxumites,  city  of  the,  23,  51,  59,  61 
Avalites,  24,  25,  31,  65,  71,  74,  114 
Avanti,  187 
awls  (or  bodkins),  28 
axes,  24 

Axum.  5,  9,  10,  59,  61,  62,  61,  64, 
65,  67,  89,  119.  126,  111,  141 
Ayodhya  (see  Oudh),  242 
Azania,  27,  28,  29,  34,  47,  81,  92, 
106,  179,  252 
bluffs  of,  27,  92 
courses  of,  27,  92 
Azov,  Sea  of  (see  Maeotis),  278 

Bab-el-Mandeb,  Straits  of,  8,  52,  71, 
114,  117 
baboons,  43 

Babylon,  62,  96,  122,  121,  161,  167, 
227,  228 

Babylonia,  1,  107,  142,  145,  159,  164, 
165,  211,  228,  216 
Babylonian  creation-story,  138 
Babylonian  inscriptions,  149 
Bacare,  Barkare,  Barace,  44,  46,  211, 
212,  211,  234 
Bacchus,  76,  81,  112,  238 
Bactra,  268,  270 

Bactria,  9,  11,  48,  132,  164,  166,  183, 
185,  186,  261,  268,  269,  274 
Bactrians,  41,  184,  185 
Badakshan,  171 
Baeones,  39,  181 
Bagamoyo  (see  Rhapta),  94 
Bagdad,  91,  152,  228 
Bahardipur  (see  Barbaricum'] , 165 
Bahlika  (see  Baraca),  174 
Bahmanabad,  166 

Bahrein  Islands,  51,  80,  91,  151,  156, 
163,  164,  222 
Bains,  J.  A.,  208 
balanus,  oil  of,  112 
BalasrT,  235 
Balearic  Islands,  168 
Ba-l-Haf,  116 

Balita  (see  Varkkallai),  46,  214,  235 
Ball,  Vincent,  84,  168,  171,  172, 
212,  215,  224,  225,  258,  259 
balms,  6,  121 
balsam,  112,  214 
balsamum,  seed  of,  112 
bamboo,  155 
bamboos,  263 
Barman,  270 
Bandar  Abbas,  91 
Bandar  Hais  (see  Mundus),  81 
Bandar  Muriyeh,  85 


298 


Bandar  Ululah,  85 
Bankot  (see  Mandagora),  201 
Bantu  migrations,  98 
Baraca,  38,  39,  174,  175 
Barawa,  88,  92 

Barbaricum,  37,  39,  128,  165,  270 
Barbary  States,  56 
barberry  (see  lycium),  169 
Barbosa,  194 

Bargysi,  Bhargas,  47,  254 
barley,  178 

Barr  el  Ajam,  Ajjan,  75,  92 
Barygaza,  27,  30,  32,  34,  35,  36,  38, 
39,  40,  41,  42,  43,45,  48,  128, 
151,  153,  178,  180,  182,  184, 
185,  188,  190,  193,  196,  198, 
199,  205,  221,  236,  245,  268, 
270,  274 
Basilis,  15 

baskets,  wicker,  for  fishing,  28,  94,  95 
plaited,  for  shoulder-burdens,  48, 
280,  281 

Bassora,  80,  91,  179,  247 
Batavia,  127 
bathing,  46 
Batineh  coast,  151 
Batrasave,  150 

bdellium,  3,  37,  38,  42,  120,  163-5 
Beach,  small  and  great,  27 
Beazley,  C.  R.,  267 
Beckmann,  69,  79,  111,  171 
Beduins,  104,  105,  119,  141 
beef,  123 
Bel,  123 

Bell,  Col.  M.  S.,  272 
Bellary,  224 
Bellasis,  166 

Beluchistan,  8,  16,  147,  164,  170 
Belus,  68 
Benadir,  92 
Benares,  187 
Benfey,  242,  243,  259 
Bengal,  178,  194,  197,  236,  242,  252, 
253,  255,  257,  258,  259,  264, 
279 

Bay  of,  196,  241,  252 
muslins,  258 
Benguela,  75 
Beninasan,  192 

Benjarmn  of  Tudela,  164,  211 
Bent,  j.  Theodore,  60,  97,  117,  119, 
127,  129,  130,  138,  139,  140, 
141,  142,  145,  156,  168,  237 
benzoin,  120,  128 
Berber,  56,  60 

Berbera,  56,  66,  74,  75,  79,  80,  81, 
87,  89,  116,  217 
fair  of,  80,  91 

Berbers  (Barbari),  22,  23,  24,  25,  26, 
31,  56,  59,  63,  74,  114 
meaning  of,  56 

Berenice,  16,  22,  29,  30,  52,  55,  68, 
101,  104,  106,  121,  132,  167, 
168,  228,  233,  260 


beryllium,  222 

beryls,  204,  210,  221,  222,  223 

Besatas,  Bisadas,  48,  278,  279 

betel,  216 

Bethlehem,  123 

Beypore,  204 

Bhandarkar,  R.  G. , 209 

Bharana,  275 

Bharata,  235 

Bharukacha,  65,  180 

BhTls,  the,  190,  194 

Bhota,  253 

Bhrigu,  180 

Bhumaka  (see  Nahapana)  198 

Bhutan,  151,  253 

Biddulph,  Col.  J.,  200 

Bikrampur  (see  Vikrantapura),  255 

Bilbilis,  70 

Bion,  62 

Bir  Ali,  116 

Bir  Barhut,  119,  133 

birds,  sacred  (see  serpents),  226,  241 

Birdwood,  120 

Bit-Yakin,  Land  of,  149,  160 
Black  Sea,  77 

blackwood,  36,  152,  153,  197,  201 
Blancard,  18,  19 
Blandi,  18 
blankets,  31,  257 

Blest,  Island  of  the,  133,  134,  135, 
139,  163,  197 
mountain  of  the,  148 
“blood  of  two  brothers,”  138 
bloodstone,  223 
boats,  small,  22,  25,  32,  41 

sewed,  28,  36,  151,  154,  244 
of  osiers  covered  with  hides,  190 
hollowed  from  logs,  234,  243 
Bodh-Gaya,  64 
Bodhisattva,  197 
Bohlen,  242 
Bokhara,  171,  186,  269 
Bombay,  80,  91,  118,  138,  143,  152, 
155,  156,  167,  169,  176,  182, 
183,  194,  196,  197,  200,  252, 
257 

Bonin,  272 

Book  of  the  Dead , 237 

Borheck,  18 

Boroboedor,  174,  244,  245,  261 

bosmoros,  177,  178 

Boulger,  D.  C.,  263 

boutyron  (see  clarified  butter),  89,  177 

boutyros  (see  asafoetida),  177,  178 

Boyer,  A.-M.,  200 

bracelets,  75 

Brahma,  138 

Brahmanism,  138,  139,  188,  236,  237, 
241,  253,  257,  281 
Brahman  writings,  210,  281,  282 
Brahmanas,  281 

Brahmaputra  river,  165,  253,  255, 
264,  272 
Braho,  162,  180 


299 


Brahui,  162,  180 
Brambanan,  174,  261 
Brandis,  215 

brass,  12,  24,  69,  197,  221,  251 
Corinthian,  69 

Breasted,  Prof.  J.  H.,  61,  78,  113, 
122,  124,  158,  218,  228 
Bredovv,  19 

Britain,  British,  190,  203 
Broach  (see  Barvgaza),  179,  180, 
193,  196 
brocades,  257 
bronze,  78,  187,  193 
Bruce,  73 

Bucephalus  Alexandria,  41,  184 
Buchanan,  Dr.,  221 
buckram,  (see  cotton  cloth),  273 
Buddhism,  64,  65,  70,  138,  185,  187, 

188,  235,  236,  249,  253,  263, 
275,  279 

in  Java,  174 

Buddha,  189,  197,  229,  259 
Buddhist  Monastery,  Southern 
Mount,  188 
pagodas,  64,  65,  274 
Buddhist  pilgrim  route,  272 
Buddhist  writings,  197,  210,  228, 
229 

buffalo’s  milk,  177 
Bidder,  209,  229 
Bulbar,  80,  81,  270 
bulls,  58 
Bulunzir,  270 
Bunbury,  106,  252,  268 
Burckhardt,  104 

Burma,  81,  82,  84,  90,  152,  176,  182, 
183,  191,  223,  226,  227,  231, 
235,  254,  255,  259,  263,  273, 
279 

Burnell,  Dr.,  204,  205,  209,  221,  234 
Burns,  174 

Burnt  Island,  30,  106 
off  Somali  coast,  81 
Burton,  Sir  Richard  Francis,  72,  74, 
75,  79,  80,  89,  91,  182 
Buto,  131,  132,  226 
butter,  177 

Byzantine  emperors,  7,  59,  172 
Byzantium,  43,  65,  201,  220 

Cabolitic,  42,  190 

Cabul,  166,  167,  170,  183,  184,  185, 

189,  190,  270 
cactus,  141 
Cadmus,  132 

Cadobothras  (see  Cerobothra),  233 
Caenitae,  island  of  the,  44,  202 
Caesar,  115,  219,  264 
Cairo,  127 

Caius  (Caligula),  240 
cake-dishes,  34 
cake,  salted,  123 
Calad  Islands,  36,  61,  147 
calamus,  111,  112 


Calcutta,  152,  169 

Caldwell,  Bishop,  205,  208,  209,  221, 
234,  243 

Calf-Eaters  (Moschophagi),  22,  23, 
56 

Calicut,  203,  204,  215,  221,  227 
Caligula,  11,  103,  220 
Caliphate,  228 

callaina,  callean  stone  (seeturquoise), 
38,  170,  223 

Calliena  (see  Kalyana,  Calliana),  43, 
167,  196,  197,  198,  199,  236, 
251 

Calon  mountains,  36,  61,  147 
caltis,  a coin,  48,  289 
calves,  58 
Camanes,  182 
Camara,  46,  242 

Cambay,  Gulf  of,  68,  70,  85,  88,  89, 
135,  172,  175,  176,  177,  181, 
182,  183,  193,  194,  195,  232, 
237,  258 

Cambodia,  259,  261 
Cambridge  Natural  History,  136,  137, 
148,  264 
Cambyses,  59 

camels,  30,  32,  52,  91,  104,  108,  121, 
122,  126,  130,  137,  233 
camel’s  flesh,  74 
Cammoni,  40,  182 
Camoes,  143 
Campania,  77,  190 
Campbell,  Sir  James,  196 
Cana,  32,  33,  35,  36,  45,  115,  116, 
117,  126,  128,  129,  139,  146, 
151,  233 
Canaan,  160 

canal  between  the  Nile  and  Red  Sea, 
51 

connecting  South  Indian  back- 
waters, 234 
Candace,  12,  59 
Candler,  273 

Cannanore  (see  Naura),  204,  221 
Canneh,  117 

cannibals,  47,  254,  255,  260 
canoes  of  single  logs,  28,  93,  234, 
243 

Cantabria,  190 

Canton,  84,  228 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  143 

Cape  of  Spices  (Guardafui),  82,  85 

Cape  route  to  India,  214 

Cappadocia,  7 

caravan  routes  between  the  Nile  and 
Red  Sea,  51,  57,  121 
from  China  to  Bactria,  261 
carbunculus,  222,  227 
carchedonia  (see  jasper),  223 
cardamoms,  99,  112,  202 
Carey,  273 
cargo-ships,  35,  126 
Carmania,  150,  151,  160,  161,  191, 
192,  194,  221 


300 


carmesin,  73 
carmine,  73 
Carna  (see  Kama) 

Carnaites,  30,  104,  105,  109 

Canraites,  Cassanites,  Cananites, 
105 

Carnatic,  241,  257 

Carnegie  Institution,  Washington, 
262 

carnelian,  42,  43,  190,  193,  194,  223 

Carreri,  Gemelli,  155 

Carter,  H.  J.,  142,  143 

Carthage,  147,  219 

Carthaginians,  78,  101,  217,  279,  280 

Caseri,  260 

Cashmere,  366,  257 

Casii  (see  Kashgar),  269 

caskets,  34 

Caspapyrene,  Caspapyra,  42,  189 
Caspian  Sea,  48,  172,  183,  186,  263, 
277 

Pass,  269 

cassia,  82,  83,  84,  112,  169,  202,  217 
false,  86 

caste  system,  in  the  Hadramaut,  118, 
145,  146 

in  India,  180,  230,  235,  238 
castor  musk,  251 
castor  oil,  264 
Catalonia,  168 
Catherine  de  Medici,  199 
cat’s  eye,  193,  223 
Cattigara,  228 

cattle,  30,  39,  121,  139,  149,  176, 
218,  225,  270,  271 
humped,  270,  271 
cave-dwellers,  35 
cedar,  78 
celibacy,  46 
Central  Arabia,  108 
Central  Asia,  166,  176,  177,  187,  264 
Central  Asian  trade-route,  186,  269, 
272 

centurion,  29,  104 

Cerobothra,  Kingdom  of  (see  Chera), 
44,  208 

Cevlon,  8,  52,  84,  148,  152,  163, 
170,  171,  194,  209,  213,  216, 
220,  222,  226,  227,  229,  230, 
235,  237,  239,  241,  243,  248, 
249,  250,  251,  252,  255,  261, 
279,  281 

embassy  from,  to  Augustus,  252 
Chaberis  emporion  (see  Camara),  242 
Chahbar,  Bay  of,  151 
Chakora,  199 
Chalcedony,  223 
Chalcidice,  190 

Chaldaea,  Chaldaeans,  107,  123,  142, 
159,  160,  162 
Chalukya  kings,  197 
Cham,  163 

Champavati  (see  Sem'dla),  200 
Chanda,  224 


Chandikabai,  201 
Chandragiri  river,  204,  205 
Chandragupta  Maurya,  180,  187,  186 
Chandragupta  Vikramaditya,  255 
Chandristhan,  230 
chaplets,  190,  191,  265 
Charax  Spasini,  36,  63,  149,  150 
Charibael,  Kariba-il,  11,  30,  32,  107, 
115 

chariots,  1 3 
Charsadda,  184 
Chashtana,  188 

Chatramotitse,  Chatramotitis  (see  Ha- 
dramaut), 62,  116,  119,  127, 
139,  140,  145 
Chatterton,  246 
Chaul,  (see  Semylla),  200 
Chau,  261 

Chera,  195,  197,  204,  205,  208,  209, 
210,  222,  237,  238,  267,  273, 
281 

Chersonesus,  44,  202 
Ch'ien-han-shu , the,  277 
Chin,  248 

China,  9,  11,  14,  82,  84,  90,  118, 
128,  152,  169,  172,  176,  178, 
183,  185,  186,  191,  194,  213, 
222,  223,  227,  228,  235,  247, 
259,  260,  261,  262,  263,  264, 
266,  269,  270,  273,  275,  276, 
277,  279.  (See  This.) 
sea-trade  to  Persia,  84,  152 
sea-route  to,  via  Malacca,  260 
great  wall  of,  261,  263 
Sea,  273 

china,  Nankin,  97 
Chin  Hills,  255 
Chindwin  river,  246 
trader,  246 

Chinese,  76,  227,  247,  263,  266.  268, 
276 

account  of  Roman  Syria,  275-7 
annals,  128,  185,  246,  247,  259, 

261,  268,  275,  276,  277 

ships,  227,  228,  259 
silks,  276 
Chishull,  169 
Chitor,  180,  184 
Chna,  160 

Chdla,  Chola-mandalam  (see  Coro- 
mandel), 195,  197,  204.  205, 

209,  237,  238,  241,  242,  249, 

281 

Cho-La,  279 

Cholaebus,  Kula’ib,  30,  107,  116 
Chota  Nagpur, 25 8 
Chou  dynasty,  261 
Chou-li,  263 
Christ,  9,  10,  67,  155 
Christianity,  64,  65,  67,  135,  162 
Christians,  Syrian,  206 
in  Ceylon,  250 

Chronicles,  Book  of,  122,  124,  175 


301 


Chryse  Island,  45,  46,  47,  48,  227, 
246,  259-61 
chrysolite,  167 
chrysolithos,  223 
chrysoprase,  chrysoprasus,  223 
Chu  river,  185 
Ch’u,  261 

Chumbi  Vale,  272,  279 
Chuse  (see  Cush),  163 
Chwan-chau  (see  Zayton),  214 
Cicero,  132 
Cilicia,  71,  123,  269 
Cimmerian  Bosphorus,  278 
Cimolian  chalk,  111 
cinnabar,  112,  137,  192,  263,  276 
cinnabar,  Indian  (see  dragon’s  blood), 
34,  137-9 

cinnamon,  4,  6,  13,  25,  26,  27,  77, 
80,  82-4,  86,  87,  89,  112,  113, 
121,  122,  132,  136,  145,  169, 
213,  214,  216,  217,  218,  227, 
236,  273,  281 

Cirrhadae,  47,  253,  254,  256,  266,  278 
citronella,  170,  256 
Cizimba  language  in  E.  Africa,  98 
clarified  butter,  boutyron,  27,  39,  74, 
89,  99,  139,  177,  178 
Claudius,  8,  12,  109,  204,  219,  220 
Clement,  132 
Cleopatra,  5,  240,  264 
Clifford,  H.  C.,  260,  261 
cloaks,  25,  31 

dyed  in  colors,  24 
Clodius,  240 
cloth,  dressed,  25 
asbestos,  276 
Egyptian,  68 
gold-colored,  276 
Indian,  34,  35,  39,  42,  43,  172, 
202 

undressed,  24 
cloths,  4,  251,  257 
purple,  31 
scarlet  214 

clothing,  31,  33,  36,  37,  42,  44,  72, 
121,  123,  127,  197 
Arabian  style,  with  sleeves,  31 
embroidered,  275 
plain,  ordinary',  embroidered,  in- 
terwoven with  gold,  31 
striped,  149 

clover,  sweet,  42,  190,  191 
cloves,  227,  250,  273 
Coa  ‘vestis,  transparent  silk  gauze,  264 
Coast  Country  (see  Chola),  43,  46, 
283,  241 

coats  of  skin,  24,  70 
cobalt,  69,  171 
cobra,  236 

Cochin,  204,  208,  212,  215 

backwaters,  205,  207,  209,  212 
Cochinchina,  252 
cochineal,  73 


cocoanut  palm,  its  products,  99,  1 54, 
177,  250 
coffee,  105,  273 
Coimbatore,  204,  210,  222 
coin,  24,  25,  42,  44,  48,  160,  190, 
192,  193,  219,  220,  221,  243, 
244,  245,  252,  259,  276 
colandia,  46,  228,  246 
Colchi,  46,  211,  237 
Colchis,  278 
collector  of  customs,  29 
Coloe,  23,  60,  141 
Columbus,  3,  6,  5 5 
comacum,  112 

Comari,  Cape  and  Harbor  of,  46,  235 
Comedi,  the,  269 

Commercial  Museum,  Philadelphia, 
247,  262,  271,  274 
Commodus,  70,  220 
Comorin,  Cape  (see  Comari),  208, 
234,  235,  250 
Comoro  Islands,  88 
compass  (in  Chinese  records),  246-7 
Comum,  70 
conch-shells,  251 
Congo,  75 

Constantine,  67,  214,  220 

Constantinople,  6,  7,  63,  76,  172,  267 

Constantius,  67,  107,  115 

Conti,  Nicol,  225 

Coorgs,  190 

copal,  80 

Indian,  25,  80 

copper,  31,  33,  36,  42,  45,  69,  75, 
77,  78,  111,  122,  127,  151, 
169,  193,  219,  221 
Cyprian,  69 
ochre,  171 

soft,  in  sheets,  24,  25,  70 
Coptos,  16,  52,  55,  68,  103,  121,  132, 
232,  233 

coral,  33,  37,  42,  45,  74,  82,  127, 
128,  168,  223,  224,  227,  259, 
276,  281 

Cordier,  Henri,  144,  155,  157,  170, 
237 

coriander,  99,  164 
Corinth,  219 
Cornelius  Nepos,  157 
Cornwall,  77,  78 

Coromandel  (see  Chola),  155,  243, 
244 

corsairs,  135 
Corsica,  168 
corundum,  227 
Cos,  264 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  author  of  the 
Christian  Topography , 60,  92, 
96,  99,  135,  152,  197,  201, 
209,  229,  249,  250,  273 
costus,  38,  42,  112,  168 
cotton,  39,  71,  72,  76,  179,  196,  215, 
257,  265,  266 
Cottonara,  45,  221,  234 


302 


cotton  cloth,  24,  27,  38,  39,  42,  71, 
72,  73,  179,  252,  263 
painted  chintzes,  252 
spinning,  256 
thread,  256 
cotymba,  40,  182,  245 
Cousens,  H.,  196 
cow’s  blood,  70 
milk,  177 
cramoisi,  73 

C’ranganore,  Kodungalur  (see  Muzi- 
ris),  205,  208 
Crawley,  Ernest,  236 
Crete,  105,  190 
crimson,  73 
crocodiles,  28,  34 
Crosby,  273 

Cruttenden,  Lieut.,  89,  91,  116,  142, 
145 

crystal,  220,  221,  223,  224,  226,  276, 

Ctesias,  70 

Ctesiphon,  127 

cummin,  99,  213 

Cunningham,  200 

cups,  24 

Curzon,  Lord,  147,  162 
Cush,  5,  58,  61,  159,  160,  162,  175, 
211 

Cusha-dvTpa,  230 

Cushites,  64,  141,  142,  146_,  161,  218 
language  in  Africa  similar  to  the 
Ural-altaic,  134 

Cushite  - Elamite  migration,  theory 
concerning,  51,  58,  134 
Cutch,  4,  70,  160,  173,  174,  175,  176 
Rann  of,  135,  166,  173 
Cyeneum,  23,  61 
Cyncilim  (see  Nelcynda),  215 
C’ynocephali,  watering-place  of,  86 
Cynos  river  ( Wadi-ed  - Dawasir? ), 
149,  150 
cypirus,  112 
cypress,  112 
Cyprus,  61 
Cyrene,  69 

Dabhol  (see  Palaepatma?),  201 
Dacca,  256,  258,  259 
Dachinabades  (see  Deccan),  43,  195, 
204 

Dagaan,  85 
daggers,  28 
Dahalak,  66 

Daimaniyat  Islands,  147 
Dakshina  (see  Deccan),  252 
Damascus,  77 
blades,  172 
damask,  264 

Damirica,  34,  35,  41,  43,  44,  45,  46, 
47,  48,  203,  204,  205,  272,  273 
dammar  gum,  80 
Dana,  224 
D’Anville,  268 
Daphnus,  86 


Dar-es-Salaam,  94 

Darius  the  Great,  7,  51,  123,  189, 
213,  264 

Darror  valley,  219 
Das,  Sarat  Ch'andra,  273 
Dasarna  (see  Dosarene),  253 
dates,  36,  37,  154,  157,  158,  159 
date-palm,  136,  158 
fiber,  156 
syagri,  158 
wine,  157,  158,  159 
Daulatabad,  196 

Davids,  Prof.  T.  W.  Rhys,  223 

Dawson,  209 

Day,  Francis,  209 

Dead  Sea,  101 

Deasy,  273 

De  Candolle,  76,  157 

Deccan,  177,  188,  193,  195,  196,  197, 

224,  235,  236,  252,  270 
December,  234 

Dedan,  153,  159,  162 
Deir  el  Bahri,  120,  121,  141,  142, 
218,  228,  270,  271 
Delgado,  Cape,  94,  97 
Delitzsch,  128 
Delphi,  138 
Demetrius,  184 
Dera  Ghazi  Khan,  174 
designated  ports,  22,  51-2 
Devgarh  (see  Togarum),  201 
Dhamari,  258 
Dhanavriddhi,  229 

Dhanyakataka,  Dharanikotta,  195,  199 
Dhofar,  107,  109,  118,  126,  129,  140, 
143,  218,  -237,  271,  272 
Dholbanta,  87 

diamonds,  45,  215,  216,  222,  224, 

225,  226,  241 
Dillmartn,  66 

Dio  Cassius,  103 
Diocletian,  220 
Diodorus  island,  23,  31,  114 
Diodorus  Siculus,  160,  162 
Dionysos,  76,  132 
Dionysiac  revels,  131 
Dionysius  Periegetes,  171,  226 
Dioscorida,  33,  13  3-6 
Dioscorides,  80,  82,  157,  171,  192, 
213 

Diospolis,  24,  68 

Dirbat,  141,  142 

Disan  Island,  106 

Diu,  181 

Djadarot,  63 

Djesair,  El,  92 

Dodwell,  18 

dogs,  113,  121 

Dog-star,  125,  233 

Dome  Island  (Trullas),  32 

Domitian,  66,  220 

Dosarene,  47,  253 

Dosaron  river  (see  Mahanadi),  253 

Doughty,  104 


303 


Douglas,  R.  K.,  263 
drachmas,  41 

dragon,  the,  of  Ares,  132,  226 
of  Siva,  138 

dragon’s  blood,  137,  138,  139,  145 
legend  concerning,  138-9 
Drake-Brockman,  R.  E. , 87,  217,  270 
Dravida-desam  (see  Damirica),  205, 
230,  237,  238 

Dravidians,  138,  162,  173,  175,  176, 
180,  190,  194,  197,  205,  208, 
213,  228,  230,  235,  236,  237, 

. 238,  239,  241,  249,  279 
alphabet,  210,  229 
sea-trade,  209-11,  228-30,  237 
drill,  blue,  73,  194,  202 
drinking-cups,  25 
dromedaries,  123 
duaca,  25,  80 
Duff,  200 

Durga,  or  ParvatT,  235,  236,  281 
Dutch  government  in  Java,  127,  212 
Dutch,  the,  192,  202,  204,  215 
Dwarka,  174 

eagles,  225,  226 
Eastern  Archipelago,  243 
Eber,  107 

ebony,  6,  36,  57,  58,  61,  1 13,  121, 
125,  153 
Ecbatana,  269 
Eden,  115 

Edmunds,  Albert  J.,  66,  235,  268 
Edom,  102 
Edrisi,  71 
egg,  190 

Egvpt,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  12,  22,  24,  27, 

31,  32,  33,  42,  45,  47,  51,  52, 

55,  57,  58,  59,  61,  63,  64,  65, 

68,  69,  71,  75,  76,  78,  80,  82, 

83,  89,  96,  101,  102,  103,  104, 
111,  118,  120,  122,  127,  131, 
132,  135,  146,  153,  157,  158, 
159,  160,  162,  167,  172,  178, 
192,  193,  213,  218,  223,  226, 
227,  228,  232,  246,  260,  261 
Egypt  Exploration  Fund,  218 
Egyptian  cloth,  68,  167 
geographers,  230 
inscription,  153,  192,  213,  228, 
264 

shipping,  231 
trading-voyages,  228 
Egyptians,  60,  68,  75,  76,  87,  89, 
113,  114,  132,  142,  143,  171, 
234,  236 

Eirinon,  38,  135,  166,  173,  174 

Eiselen,  159 

Elagabalus,  219 

Elam,  3,  51,  107,  134,  149 

Elan,  260 

Eleazus,  11,  32,  115,  117 
electrum,  78 

Elephant,  Cape  and  River,  26,  85,  86 


Elephanta,  138 
Elephantine,  57 

elephants,  23,  43,  60,  61,  137,  138, 
193,  236,  252 
housings  for,  257 
Elis,  71 
Elisar,  115 

Elliot,  Sir  Walter,  209,  221,  242,  244, 
259 

ellutu-wood,  123 
Ely,  203 

Elymais  (see  Elam),  149 
embalming,  113 
emeralds,  168,  240 
emery,  224 
Emperors,  30 
Emu,  113 

England,  English,  66,  96,  127,  144, 
189,  203 

Engler  and  Prantl,  82 
Ephah,  123 
Ephesus,  65,  77 
Epiphanius,  171 
Epiphi,  27 

Erannoboas — Hiranva-vaha  (see  Son), 
258 

Eratosthenes,  54,  55,  101,  108,  1 18, 
178,  249,  277 
Eritrea,  60 

Er-rih  (Ptolemais),  60 
Erythrae,  259 

Ervthraean  Sea,  7,  15,  22,  29,  37,  48, 
60,  62,  101,  136,  145,  159, 
197,  260 

Agatharchides  on,  50-2 
origin  of  name,  50-1 
Ervthras,  King,  legend  concerning, 
' • 50-1,  87 

Esarhaddon,  7,  58 

Es-shehr  = Escier = Ash-Shihr,  129, 
130,  142 

Etesian  winds,  178,  233 
Ethiopia,  (see  Aethiopia),  9 
Etruscan,  193 
Eucratides,  184,  185 
Eudaemon  Arabia,  12,  32,  45,  115 
euphorbia,  113 

Euphrates,  3,  4,  5,  36,  74,  117,  11 S, 
126,  165,  183,  184,  187,  270 
Euripides,  131,  132 
Europe,  92,  101,  151,  156,  161,  163, 
171,  179,  185,  214,  215,  224, 
234,  249,  258 
Euxine  Sea,  278 
Evans,  T.  C.,  195 
Exodus,  Book  of,  82,  111,  113,  122, 
164,  169 

Everest,  Mount,  281 
eye  cosmetic,  113,  169,  190,  192 
paint,  121,  192 

Ezekiel,  Book  of,  70,  77,  78,  82, 
105,  115,  117,  153,  161,  264 
Ezion-Geber,  260 
Ezra,  Book  of,  159,  228 


304 


Fabric-ms,  11,  15,  19,  20,  51,  72,  80, 
89,  105,  106,  114,  115,  116, 
147,  148,  151,  152,  163,  167, 
171,  177,  178,  180,  199,  208, 
227,  242,  265 

Fa-Hien,  209,  248,  250,  253,  255, 
272,  281 

fair,  annual,  of  the  Besatae:  cf.  Gara, 
279 

Farsan  Islands,  106 
“far-side”  ports  and  coast,  24,  25, 
27,  30,  31,  32,  75,  80 
Fartach,  kingdom  of  (see  Ras  Far- 
tak),  139 

Fellatah  country,  75 
fennel,  216 
fenugreek,  112 

Fergusson,  James,  133,  236,  255,  279 
Ferrars,  248 

festival,  tribal,  141,  142,  143,  279, 
280,  281 
Fezzan,  98 
fig,  80 

Firgamu,  171 
fish,  74,  159,  162 
oil,  154,  155 

Fish-Eaters  ( Ichthyophagi),  22,  23, 
29,  32,  35,  56,  143,  146,  162 
fishing,  28 

flattened  noses,  men  with,  47,  278 
flax,  68,  72,  178 
Fleet,  J.  F.,  196,  209 
flour,  13 

Fliickiger  and  Hanbury,  84,  113,  128, 
215 

Forster,  74,  114,  116,  133,  143 

Foucher,  183 

Foulahs,  89 

Foulke,  229 

Foulkes,  209,  242 

Fourth  Cataract,  58 

France,  199 

frankincense,  4,  13,  25,  26,  32,  33, 
35,  36,  37,  57,  60,  62,  80,  81, 
85,  86,  102,  105,  113,  115,  116, 
117,  118,  120,  122,  123,  124, 
125,  126,  127,  128,  130,  131, 
139,  141,  143,  144,  145,  164, 
169,  192,  214,  215,  216,  217, 
218,  225,  233,  236,  241,  270, 
271 

customs  affecting  gathering  of, 
125 

dangers  of  gathering,  130-3 
far-side,  80 

spirit  of  the  tree,  131-2 
trade  in,  125-6 

Frankincense  Country,  5,  11,  14,  16, 
32,  33,  34,  62,  115,  117,  119, 
139,  140 
Franks,  75 

Frazer,  J.  G.,  131,  132,  133,  139, 
146,  237 

Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  155,  157 


Freshfield,  279 
Froben,  17 

fruit,  34,  122,  124,  158 
Fryer,  177 
Fundy,  Bay  of,  183 
Fu-hi',  263 

Furneaux,  J.  H.s  242,  244,  258 
furs,  171,  257 

Further  India  (see  Chryse),  260 

Gadusii,  277 
Ga?tulia,  156 
galangal,  112 
galbanum,  112,  122,  216 
Galicia,  77,  78,  190 
Galilee,  11 
Gallas,  218,  271 
Gamble,  152 
games,  sacred,  191 
Gandanei  ( GanJhara),  41,  183,  184, 
189 

Ganesa,  236 
Ganga-Sagar,  255 

Ganges,  6,  9,  41,  43,  45,  46,  47,  48, 
160,  165,  166,  172,  176,  187, 
188,  195,  217,  222,  242,  249, 
255,  256,  257,  258,  259,  260, 
267,  272,  279 

Gangetic  spikenard,  47,  222,  256 
muslins,  256-8 
pearls,  256 
Gangtok,  279 
Gan  jam,  257 
Gara,  140,  141,  142,  218 
Garamantes,  98 
Garcia  de  Orta,  84,  224 
Garhwal,  151,  188 
garlands,  190 
garnet,  223 

Gamier,  Francois,  261 
Garo,  278 
garrison,  29 
Gartok,  272 

Garuda,  bird  of  Vishnu,  253 
Gaul,  68,  76,  77,  167,  168 
Gaurisankar  (see  Everest  ‘,  281 
Gautama  Buddha,  197,  249 
Gautamiputra  Satakami  (see  Viliva- 
yakura),  197,  235 
Gaza,  123 

Gebanites,  107,  126 
Gedrosia,  36,  161,  163,  170,  180, 
183,  189 
Geez.,  63,  146 
Geil,  272 
Gelenius,  17,  18 
gems,  6,  222,  238,  240,  276 
Genaba,  Beni  Genab  (see  Zenobian, ) 
143,  144,  145,  146,  162 
Genabti  (see  Genaba,  Zenobian),  122, 
144 

Genesis,  Book  of,  74,  105,  107,  115, 
121,  149,  159,  160,  161,  162, 
164,  194 


305 


Genoa,  Genoese,  168,  214 
George,  St.,  138 
Gerrha,  46 
Ghassanids,  6,  108 

Ghats,  western,  80,  152,  196,  201, 
205,  211,  212 
Ghazipur,  187 

ghi  (see  clarified  butter),  177,  178 
Ghora  Bari,  165 
Gibbon,  214 
Gilead,  121 

Gilgamesh,  epic  of,  134,  135,  139, 
163,  237 

ginger,  211,  213,  227,  273 
ginger-grass,  170,  256 
girdles,  24,  27,  42,  190 
Girnar,  249 
gizir,  26 

Glaser,  Dr.  Eduard,  9,  10,  11,  12, 
14,  51,  58,  59,  61,  62,  63,  64, 
66,  68,  79,  80,  81,  85,  86,  87, 
94,  96,  102,  105,  106,  107, 
108,  109,  114,  115,  116,  119, 
128,  130,  132,  133,  134,  135, 
136,  140,  143,  144,  150,  151, 
158,  160,  164 

glass,  26,  28,  38,  45,  66,  68,  69,  220, 
276 

glass,  flint,  24,  25,  42 
Gnbti,  61 

Goa  (see  Aegidii),  202,  203,  222 
Goaesus,  63,  140,  150 
Goaphat  point,  181 
goats,  121,  130,  156,  224 
Gobi  desert,  261 
Godaveri  river,  195,  197,  224 
goddess,  46,  235,  236 
gods,  35,  49,  133,  191,  281,  282 
God’s  Land,  61,  113,  120,  132 
Golconda,  172,  224 
gold,  3,  4,  13,  24,  25,  31,  33,  36,  42, 
48,  57,  58,  61,  69,  75,  77,  78, 
99,  105,  113,  121,  122,  123, 
143,  149,  153,  160,  161,  175, 
191,  214,  219,  221,  223,  224, 
227,  238,  249,  252,  258,  259, 
265,  273,  276,  279,  280,  281 
ant-gold,  258 

embroideries,  242,  25  7,  273 
“golden  bough” — mistletoe,  236 
Golenischef,  W. , 133 
Gondophares,  167,  185,  190,  200 
Goodchild,  W.,  170,  171,  226 
Gospels,  the,  213 
Gbtz,  W.,  163,  268 
grarf,  37,  165 

Graeco-Bactrian  coins.  184,  185 
Graen,  91 

grain,  31,  34,  61,  122,  176,  276 
grape,  75,  76,  157 
muscatel,  157 
Great  Bear,  the,  221 
Greece,  131,  132,  172,  190,  267 
Greek  colonies,  4,  8 


Greeks,  3,  34,  44,  51,  60,  75,  76,  78, 
82,  101,  108,  131,  132,  135, 
160,  172,  180,  183,  190,  192, 
193,  195,  210,  236,  250,  253, 
264,  265,  277 
Byzantine,  201 
Egyptian,  106 
Syrian,  60 
Greek  shipping,  89 

geographers,  189,  277 
literature,  238 
writers,  118 
Greenwich,  188 
Gregentius,  St.,  107 
griffins  (see  Tibetan  gold),  259 
guano,  116 

Guardafui,  4,  6,  16,  63,  85,  86,  87, 
89,  101,  118 
Guillain,  A.,  97 
Guignes,  de,  272 
Guinea  coast,  75,  101 
gulf  of,  99 

Gujarat,  70,  135,  167,  174,  175,176, 
177,  179,  196,  197,  201,  245, 
257,  261 

gum  arabic,  80,  217 
gums,  26,  33,  74,  77,  85,  164,  192, 
214,  218,  236 
classification  of,  164 
Gundert,  234 
Gupta  Empire,  188,  255 
Gurdaspur,  180 
Gyangtse,  279 

Habash,  9,  62,  68,  114,  116,  142 
Habashat,  62,  63,  64,  106,  117,  119, 
140,  146 

Hadramaut,  62,  63,  106,  107,  116, 
117,  118,  119,  126,  127,  129, 
130,  131,  133,  137,  142,  144, 
146,  154 

Hadramitic  language,  104 
Hadrian,  220 
Haeckel,  Ernst  H.,  168 
Hafa,  140,  141 
Haftalu,  162 

Haidarabad,  172,  196,  209 

Haig,  Gen.  M.  R.,  163,  272 

Hai-hsi-kuo , 275 

Haines,  J.  B. , 142,  143 

Hakra  canal,  174 

Hala,  199 

Halevy,  119 

Hall  and  Neal,  97 

Ham,  141 

Hand  (Khamil),  261,  268 
Hammamat,  121 
hammo-nitrurn,  68 
Hammurabi,  7 
Handy,  R.  B. , 71 
Han  dynasty,  246,  262,  263 
annals,  269 
state,  261 
Hanfilah,  Ras,  66 


306 


Hai  luman,  the  monkey-god,  230,  237 

Harkhuf,  61 

Harrar,  74,  75 

harvests,  58 

Hasik,  62 

hatchets,  28 

Hatshepsut,  Oueen,  73,  82,  113,  118, 
153,  1?8,  228 
Hauakil  Bay,  66 

Haura,  El — Auara,  Leuke  Kome,  101 
Havilah,  land  of,  3,  160,  161,  162, 
164,  194 

Hazarmaveth,  107,  119 
Hazin,  El,  92 
Hbsti , 62 

Hebrews,  76,  122,  163,  164,  193,  260 
scriptures,  213,  228,  264 
Hecataeus,  92,  160,  189 
Hedin,  Sven,  273 
hedysmata , 112 
Heeren,  216,  243,  257 
Heidelberg,  7 
Hejaz,  106,  129 
Heliocles,  185 

heliotropium  (see  bloodstone),  223 
hemp,  248,  263 
Henry  II,  199 
Heracles,  238 
Herculaneum,  169 
Hercules,  125,  192,  259 
Pillars  of,  279 
Herdman,  Prof.,  148 
Herod,  103 
Herod  Antipas,  11 
Herodias,  11 

Herodotus,  60,  62,  71,  83,  84,  101, 
118,  123,  131,  134,  145,  153, 
162,  189,  213,  217,  254,  258, 
259  279 
Herone,  39,  182 
Heroopolite  Gulf,  68 
Hesiod,  25  3 
Heyd,  W.,  170,  268 
hibiscus,  73 
hides,  74 

Hien-yang  (see  Singanfu),  261,  262 
Hilprecht,  Hermann  V.,  109,  130 
Himalayas,  81,  84,  151,  160,  169, 
179,  188,  216,  235,  253,  256, 
277,  279,  281 

Himyar,  63,  94,  105,  106,  107,  109, 
114,  119,  142 

Himyaritic  language,  104,  146,  148 
210 

inscriptions,  116 

Hind,  Sind  and  Zinj,  92,  248,  249 
Hindu  Kush  mountains,  164,  183, 
185,  189 

Hindu  traders,  65,  88,  230 
Hindus,  253 
Hiong-nu,  185,  270 
Hippalus,  6,  8,  13,  45,  53,  212,  227, 
228,  229,  230,  232,  233 
Hippocrates,  82 


H iram,  King  of  Tyre,  26  J 
Hirsch,  L. , 119 

Hirth,  F.,  128,  247,  263,  264,  275 
Hisn  Ghorab,  116,  232 
Hitopadesa,  229 
Hoang-ho  river,  165,  261 
Hogarth,  D.  G.,  109,  119,  139,  143, 
148 

Holdich,  Sir  Thomas  Hungerford, 
151,  160,  161,  163,  171,  183, 
189,  273 
holm-oak,  73 

Homer,  69,  157,  159,  254 
Homerites  (see  Himyar),  63,  65,  96, 
116,  139,  140,  251 
Homerite  Kingdom,  6,  10,  11,  30, 
51,  94,  104,  105,  106,  107, 
109,  115,  119 

Hoimnel,  51,  107,  108,  109,  119, 
120,  130,  134,  143 
Homna,  150 
Ho-nan,  262 

Honavar  (see  Naura),  204 
honey,  70,  74,  76,  81,  112,  169 
Horace,  217 

Hormus,  Straits  of,  150,  15  1,  155, 
163,  179,  252 
horn,  191 

Horn  of  Africa,  87,  218 
Horse-faces,  47,  254,  278 
horses,  13,  31,  33,  176,  191,  196 
Horus,  136 

Hou-han-shu,  Chinese  annals  contem- 
porary with  the  Periplus,  275 
Hsen-wi,  273 
Hsi-nvang-mu , 277 
Hsi-yii,  269 
Huang-ti,  263,  276 
Hubli,  202 
Hue,  Abbe,  272 
Hud,  142 
Hudson,  18 
Hughli  river,  255 
Hultzsch,  209 
Hu-nan,  263 
Huns,  9 

White,  236 

Huntington,  Ellsworth,  278 
hyacinthus,  222,  226,  250 
Hyctanis  river,  221 
Hydreuma,  233 
hyenas,  43 
Hyksos  dynasty,  58 
Hyrcania,  269,  277 

iaspis  (see  jasperj,  223 
ibis  (protector  of  Egypt  against  in- 
cense-spirits in  serpent  form), 
131,  132 

Ibn  Batuta,  74,  141,  203 
Ibn  Khaldun,  116,  129,  142 
Ibn  Mogawir,  107 
Ili  river,  268 
Ili-azzu  Jalit,  117 


307 


images,  33,  127 

Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India,  162,  181, 
183,  188,  190,  195,  196,  197, 
201,  202,  204,  205,  208,  209, 
210,  212,  234,  235,  237,  238, 
252,  255 

incense  (see  frankincense),  3,  26,  61, 
62,  63,  80,  82,  113,  120,  121, 
123,  124,  126,  128,  130,  133, 
136,  143,  144,  145,  169,  233 
house,  122 

ihmut  (or  anti),  113,  164 
sonter,  113 

Incense-Land,  63,  117,  118,  119,  121, 
122,  132,  133,  140,  142,  145, 
150,  271 
terraces,  228 

India,  3,  4,  5,  6,  8,  9,  10,  11,  13,  14, 

29,  32,  36,  39,  40,  41,  45,  49, 

52,  63,  66,  70,  71,  75,  76,  77, 

78,  79,  80,  81,  82,  83,  84,  87, 


88, 

89,  90,  99, 

101, 

103, 

104, 

105, 

106, 

109, 

115, 

118, 

125, 

127, 

128, 

133, 

134, 

135, 

136, 

137, 

140, 

142, 

147, 

148, 

150, 

151, 

152, 

153, 

155, 

156, 

157, 

160, 

163, 

164, 

165, 

167, 

168, 

170, 

171, 

173, 

175, 

176, 

177. 

178, 

179, 

180, 

183, 

184, 

185, 

186, 

187, 

188, 

189, 

191, 

192. 

194, 

, 195, 

196, 

203, 

204, 

205. 

208, 

, 209, 

214, 

217, 

219, 

221, 

222, 

, 223, 

224, 

225, 

227, 

232. 

233. 

, 234, 

235, 

236, 

237, 

238, 

242. 

, 248, 

249, 

250, 

251, 

253, 

254, 

, 256, 

257, 

258, 

259, 

260, 

261. 

, 264, 

265, 

267, 

270, 

272. 

276. 

, 279, 

281 

sea-trade  from,  63,  99 
southern  extension  of,  101 
Indian  embassies,  63 
coinage,  193,  221 
empire,  189 
mountaineers,  255 

Indian  Ocean,  6,  16,  50,  101,  130, 
137,  148,  164,  213,  230,  250 
Indian  shipping,  63,  87,  88,  90,  115, 
213,  228 
nut,  154,  273 
traders,  228 
travellers,  115 

Indians,  34,  76,  135,  146,  161,  226, 
250,  254,  265 
indigo,  38,  172,  173 
Indo-Aryans,  70 
Indo-China,  235,  260,  261 
Jndo-Parthia,  10,  166,  167,  176,  185, 
186,  200 

Indo-Scythia,  146,  165,  235 
Indore,  166,  180 

Indus  (see  Sinthus),  4,  8,  9,  146, 
147,  151,  153,  157,  165,  166, 
167,  170,  171,  172,  174,  176, 
177,  178,  180,  183,  184,  187, 


232,  251,  258,  269,  270,  272 
inflated  rafts,  62  * 

inflated  skins,  143,  145 
Intef,  121 
Ion,  192 
Irak,  249 
Irawadi  river,  165 
Iri,  121 

iron,  13,  24,  25,  26,  69,  70,  71,  77, 
78,  111,  137,  151,  154,  155, 
156,  162,  171,  172,  202,  221, 
224,  225,  248 
bright,  70 
Indian,  70 

Isaiah,  Book  of,  102,  104,  123,  132, 
264 

Ishmael,  Ishmaelites,  102,  105,  106, 
121 

Ishmaelite  dialects,  104 
Isidore,  171 

Isidorus  of  Charax  Spasini,  63,  140, 
149,  150,  270 
Isis,  86 

Islam,  7,  59,  105,  106,  146,  156 

Island  of  Birds  (Ornebn),  32,  116 

Ismenian  Apollo,  132 

Israel,  kingdom  of,  58 

Israelites,  164 

Issus,  Bay  of,  269 

Isy,  61 

Italy,  24,  66,  70,  71,  77,  168,  190 

Itiopya-uan,  62 

I-tsing,  213,  275 
Iudadan,  159 

ivory,  4,  13,  22,  23,  24,  25,  26,  28, 
29,  42,  45,  47,  57,  58,  61,  74, 
88,  113,  121,  125,  153,  175, 
193,  253,  263,  276 
articles  made  of,  61 
sources  of  supply,  61 

Jabbalpur,  193 
jacinth,  226 

jade,  jadeite,  223,  268,  276 
Jaigarh  (see  Melizigara),  201 
Janardan,  temple  of,  23  5 
January,  Ides  of,  234 
Japan,  178 
Japhet,  163 
jars,  122 

jase,  stitched  ship,  155 
jasper,  23  3 
Jatayu,  226 
Jauf,  117 

Java,  127,  166,  .174,  245,  248,  261 
Gujarati  immigration  into,  245, 
261 

Jaxartes  river,  185,  268,  277 

Jebel  Akhdar,  148 

Jebel  Gara,  140 

Jebel  Haima,  85 

Jebel  Kamar,  140 

Jebel  Muriyeh,  85 

Jebel  Samhan,  146 


308 


Jebel  Sibi,  148 

Jebel  Tair,  106 

Jelap-La,  279 

Jenaba,  Genaba,  118 

jerah,  107,  108 

Jerakon  Kome,  107 

lerusalem,  11,  67,  102,  103,  122 

jewelry,  66,  219,  223,  224,  225,  277 

Jews,  205 

Jezebel,  192 

Jhelum,  Jihlam,  180,  184 
|ih-nan  (see  Anam),  276 
iinni,  131,  132,  133,  141,  237 
Joao  I,  King  of  Portugal,  75 
Job,  Book  of,  104,  136 
Jobab,  159 
John,  Gospel  of,  114 
Johnston,  R.  F. , 273 
Joktan,  Joktanites,  74,  107,  108,  109, 
115,  132,  142,  145,  148,  149, 
159,  160,  161 

Josephus,  11,  59,  71,  102,  103,  159, 
260 

Jo-shai,  277 
Jove,  132 

Juba  II,  King  of  Mauretania,  10,  86, 
149,  150 

Judaea,  11,  102,  108 
Judaism,  107 

Judges,  Book  of,  102,  131 
juice  of  sour  grapes  (omphacium), 
25,  75 

Julien,  Stanislaus,  176,  269 
Juliopolis,  232 
Julius  Caesar,  103 
Julius  Maternus,  98 
July,  27 

Jumna  river,  167,  185 
junks,  214,  246,  247,  248 
Jupiter  Ammon,  111 
Justin,  159,  189 
Justinian,  172,  267 

Kaber  1 Chaberis  emporion),  251 
Kachana,  187 

Kachh  (see  Cutch),  160,  175,  180 
Kadalundi  (see  Tyndis),  204 
Kadapa,  224 

Kadphises,  9,  166,  186,  187,  263 

Kahtan,  107,  142 

Kailas,  sacred  peak  of,  272,  282 

Kalat,  147 

Kalhat,  147,  237 

Kalidasa,  229,  242,  25  5 

Kalvana  (see  Calliena',  197 

Kamar  Bay,  139 

Kampfer,  157 

Kanara,  80,  202,  203,  204 

Kanchow,  268 

Kandahar,  183 

Kane  emporion , 116 

Kanishka,  235,  236 

kankamon  ( Indian  copal ),  80 

Kankas,  257 


Kan  Ying,  Chinese  ambassador  to 
Roman  Empire,  275 
Kaotsou,  262 
Karachi,  165,  166 
Karague,  88 

Kariba-il  Watar  Juhan’im,  107 
Kariba-ils  of  Zafar,  109 
Karikal,  242 
Karll,  235 
Kama,  105,  107 
Karnak,  68 
Karnul,  224 
Karteia,  147 
Karun  river,  149 
Karuvur,  Karoura,  205,  208,  215 
Karwar  (see  Chersonesus ),  202,  208 
Kashgar,  186,  268,  269,  270,  272 
Kashi  — Kashu,  Kissioi,  Khuzistan, 
Kachh,  134 

Kashmir,  168,  169,  171,  189,  257 

Kashta,  162 

Kassites,  134,  175 

Kasyapamata  (see  Caspapyra) 

Kasyapa  Matanga,  275 

Kataban,  63,  94,  96,  106,  132 

Katan,  El,  107,  150,  151 

Katar,  El,  150,  162,  163 

Kathiawar,  10,  70,  167,  175,  176,  180 

Kaveri  river,  242 

Kavya,  KiratarjunTya,  254 

Kay,  116,  129,  142 

Kayal,  Coil,  237 

Keane,  A.  H.,  272 

Kej,  162 

kelek,  1 26 

Kemp,  273 

Kennedy,  227 

Kenrick,  70 

Kerala,  Keralaputra  (see  Chera),  204, 
2^5,  208 
Kerman,  70 
kermes-berry,  73 
Kesmacoran,  162 
Keti,  165 

Ke-uaJdha  Sutta  of  Digha,  229 
Kharachar,  186,  268 
KharosthI  alphabet,  210 
Khartum,  57,  59 
Khasia  Hills,  194 
Khenzer,  158 
khesyt  wood,  1 1 3 
Khnumhotep  II,  192 
Khorassan,  170,  249 
Khor  ed  Duan,  150 
Khor  Reiri,  140 
Khotan,  9,  186,  263,  268,  270 
Khuzistan,  175 
Khvber  Pass,  190,  270 
Kielhorn,  F. , 209 
Kilwa,  94 
Kimberley,  118 
King-chou  (see  Hu-nan),  263 
Kings,  Book  of,  102,  123,  131,  160, 
161,  175,  192,  193 


309 


Kingsmill,  273 

Kirata  (see  Cirrhadae),  253,  254 
Kissin,  139 

Kistna  river,  195,  197,  224.  25? 
Koft,  52 

Kohaito  (Coloe),  60,  61 
Koh-i-mubarak,  148 
kohl,  192 

Koko-Nor,  272,  279 
Konkan,  197,  198,  200,  201,  203, 
204,  205 

Koran,  the,  108,  237 
Koreish,  107 

Korkai  (Kolkai),  Colchi,  209,  211, 
237 

Kosala,  188 
kotias,  91 

Kottayam  (see  Nelcynda),  208,  211 
Krapf,  75 
Krishna,  201 

the  Great  (the  Nile),  230 
Kropotkin,  278 
Kshaharata  line,  198 
Kshatrapa  dvnasty,  188,  197,  198, 
200 

coinage,  192 
Kuche,  166,  186,  268 
Kuen-lun  mountains,  269 
Kuki-Chin,  255,  278 
Kuldja,  268 
Kullu,  151 
Kumbakonam,  242 
Kuria  Muria,  14,  61,  62,  118,  119, 
127,  144,  145,  146,  147,  150 
Kurukshetra,  Kurus,  281,  282 
Kurumbar,  244 
Kuryat,  174 

Kushan  kingdom,  8,  9,  138,  167, 
194,  197,  275 
coinage,  187,  192 
Kwang  Vouti,  263 
kyphi,  113 

lac,  24,  73,  80 
I.aconia,  156 

Lacouperie,  Terrien  de,  273 
ladanum,  112 
Lamu,  88,  98 
lances,  28 

Lanchowfu,  268,  272 
Landon,  273 

Lansdell,  Henry,  170,  270 
Laodicea,  24,  77 

lapis-lazuli,  38,  122,  170,  221,  223, 
224 

Lares,  191 
La  Roque,  139 
Las  Bela,  163 
laser , 178 

Lassen,  Prof.  Chr.,  78,  81,  84,  89, 
99,  152,  163,  164,  169,  171, 
174,  175,  177,  182,  184,  188, 
189,  193,  197,  201,  213,  217, 
223,  229,  242,  243,  249,  253, 


254,  266,  272,  273,  279 
Latakia,  77 

Latica  or  Larica,  174,  175 
laurel-grove,  26,  85 
laurel  in  chaplets,  191,  216,  264 
laurels  (in  Somaliland),  87 
La  yard,  127 

lead,  42,  45,  70,  77,  78,  114,  190,. 
193,  220,  221 
leadstone,  225 
red,  151 

Lee,  Henry,  258 

Leghorn,  168 

Lei-tsu,  263 

lemons,  179 

lemon-grass,  265 

Lenormant,  and  Chevalier,  143 

lentil,  256 

Leonidas,  123 

leopards,  43 

Lepsius,  136,  158 

Lesser  Bear,  48,  277 

Letourneau,  268 

Leuke  Kome,  101,  103 

Levant,  the,  267 

Leviticus,  Book  of,  122 

Lhasa,  272 

Libya,  29,  61,  69,  279 
Lichien  (see  Ta-ts’in),  275 
licorice,  157 

Li-kan  (see  Rekam  ==  Petra),  128 
lilies,  112 
limes,  141 

Limvrica  (see  Damirica),  205 
Lindsav,  217,  268 

linen,  23,  37,  45,  68,  122,  124,  192„ 
257 

figured,  167 
Linschoten,  84 
linseed,  190 
lion,  236,  277 
Lion,  Watchpost  of,  86 
Lisbon,  228 
Littledale,  273 
Little  Nile  River,  26,  84,  86 
Liu- s ha,  277 
lizards,  34,  136 
loadstone,  155 

Locust-eaters  ( Acridophagi),  56 
Lollia  Paulina,  240 
Lollius,  Marcus,  240 
London,  7 

Long-faces,  <7,  254,  278 
Lop  Nor,  268,  270 
lotus,  112 
Louis,  279 
Loventhal,  209 
Lo-yang,  262 

road  from,  to  Singanfu,  262 
Lubim,  69 
Lucan,  111,  265 
Ludolfus,  133 
Lusitania,  190 

lychnis  (see  tourmaline),  223 


310 


lycium,  38,  42,  169 
Lydians,  132,  192 
Lyne,  R.  N.,  92 

Maabar,  241,  248,  249 
Maaden,  170 

Macedonia,  123,  131,  161,  180 

Machin,  248 

macir,  25,  80,  81 

Maciver,  Dr.  David  Randall,  97 

Mackinder,  278 

Madagascar,  88,  94,  101,  137,  252,  271 
madarata , 36,  153 
Madhyamika,  180,  184 
Madras,  220,  242,  244 

Museum,  Roman  coins  in,  220 
Madura,  Modiera,  211,  234,  238,  241 
Mieotis,  Lake,  48,  277,  278 
Maes,  a Macedonian  silk-merchant, 
269,  270 
magla,  26 

Ma/labharata , 174,  197,  236,  238, 
253,  254,  257,  264,  281 
Mahanadi  rivet,  152,  224,  253 
Ma/tavagga,  213 
Mahendragiri,  237 
Mahi  river,  (see  Mais  j 
Mahra,  62,  130,  139,  142,  146,  148 
maidens  for  the  harem,  42 
Mais  river,  39,  182 
Makalla,  117 

Makran,  144,  150,  151,  162,  163 
Makrizi,  142,  143 

Malabar,  6,  81,  84,  88,  155,  175, 
201,  203,  204,  205,  208,  210, 
212,  213,  214,  217,  221,  222, 
226,  227,  228,  232,  241,  243, 
259,  267 

maiabathrum,  6,  44,  45,  47,  84,  89, 
112,  216,  217,  256,  279,  281 
method  of  preparation  and  sale, 

48-9 

Malacca,  227,  228,  241,  246,  259,  260 

malachite,  122 

Malacca,  78,  84 

Malao,  25,  79,  80,  81,  83 

Malay  Peninsula,  260 

Malaya-giri  (see  Melizigara),  201 

Malayalam,  204,  234 

Malchus  (Malik),  11,  103 

Male,  201,  251 

Male  and  Female  Islands,  144-6 
Malichas,  11,  29,  103,  200 
Malik,  109 

Malindi  (Melinde),  88 
Malli,  70 

mallow-cloth,  24,  42,  43,  73,  194 
Maltzan,  H.  von,  119,  127 
Malvan,  Maha-lavana  (see  Auranno- 
boas),  202 

Malwa,  167,  187,  188,  197 
Mambarus  (see  Nambanus),  197, 
198,  200 


Manar,  Gulf  of,  148,  156,  210,  222, 
230,  239,  241 
Manchester,  257 
Manchuria,  118 
Mandagora,  43,  201 
Mandalaka,  199 

Mandara-giri  (see  Mandagora),  201 
Mandavi,  91,  173 

“Mandeville,  Sir  John,”  155,  163, 
215,  226 
Manes,  166,  191 
Mangalore,  203,  205 
manganese,  68 

Mangarouth  (see  Mangalore),  251 

Manifold,  272 

Manillas,  the,  252 

manna,  164 

Mansuriyah,  166 

mantles,  linen,  double-fringed,  24 
Manu,  Laws  of,  71,  229,  256,  257, 
264 

Manzi,  227 

Mapharitis,  Ma’afir,  28,  30,  34,  106, 

107,  109 

Marallo  (Camara?),  251 
y\.arasid-al-htila  ’,  144 
Maratha,  175,  202 
Marbodeus,  171 
Marcus  Aurelius,  70,  186 
Mardi,  111 
Marduk,  138 

Mariaba,  Marib,  4,  10,  97,  105,  107, 

108,  109,  119 
marigold,  111 

Marinus  of  Tvre,  228,  260,  269 
marjoram,  112 
Mark,  Gospel  of,  114,  189 
Markinda,  196 
marten,  257 
Martial,  167 
marum,  112 
Masala,  106,  114,  115 
Masalia  I Maisolia,  Mausala),  47. 
252-3 

Mashonaland,  90 
Mdshu,  land  of,  134 
Masira  ( Moseira,  Sarapis ) , 14,  62,  1 1 9, 
126,  146,  147,  154,  163,  267 
Maspero,  G.,  146 
Massilia,  78 
Massowa,  60,  99 
mastich,  112 
Mas’udi,  66,  164,  247 
masula  boats  (see  Andhra  coinage), 
244 

Masulipatam,  196,  252 
Matarem,  245 

7nat:b  ( see  •z.enndr),  ( baptismal  cord  i, 
139 

Mathura,  184,  270 
Matthew,  Gospel  of,  123 
matting,  280 
Mauch,  Carl,  96 
Maurice,  139 


311 


Maurya  Empire,  188,  195,  197,  204, 
" 235,  236,  270 
Mauza,  106 
Mayr,  268 

McCrindle,  20,  69,  72,  73,  85,  112, 
151,  152,  178,  180,  183,  200, 
201,  202,  216,  226,  242,  249, 
252,  258,  259,  279 
Mecca,  107,  252 
Mechir,  234 

Medes,  empire  of,  50-1,  132 
Media,  164,  170,  269 
medicine,  111,  113,  169,  170,  172, 
173,  178,  190,  192,  195,  213 
Mediterranean,  3,  4,  5,  77,  84,  101, 
105,  112,  115,  126,  127,  128, 
136,  138,  151,  158,  159,  168, 
172,  176,  178,  193,  223,  230, 
234,  264 

Megasthenes,  212,  254,  255 
Meghna,  255 
Mekong  river,  165 
Melibar  (see  Malabar),  273 
melilote,  190 
Melinde,  179 

Melizigara,  Meli/egyris,  43,  201 

Memphis,  3 

Menamah,  156 

Menander,  42,  184,  185,  187 

Menilek,  67 

Meninx,  156 

Menon,  Shanguni,  209 

K.  P.  Padmanabha,  209,  212,  221 
Mentuhotep  IV,  121 
Menuthias,  23,  94 
mercury,  77,  73,  137 
Mercury,  passage  of,  136 
Merka,  88 
Merneptah,  122 
Mernere,  91,  153,  158 
Merodach-Baladan,  123,  149,  160 
Meroe,  10,  12,  15,  22,  56,  57,  58, 
59,  60,  61,  132 
Cushite  kings  in,  60 
Merv  ( see  Antiochia  Margiana  ), 
268,  269 
Merzbacher,  272 

Mesopotamia,  6,  58,  70,  157,  172, 
176,  177,  269 
Messalum,  114 

metopion  (oil  of  bitter  almonds),  112 
Meyer,  Dr.  Eduard,  60 
Midian,  123 
Midnapur,  257 
Mijertain  country,  87 
Miles,  Gen.  S.  B.,  145,  147,  148, 
151,  230,  237 
Miletus,  123,  167 
Milinda,  Questions  of,  185 
military  cloaks,  24 
milk,  123,  130,  192 
Mill  bum,  84 
millets,  178,  179 
Milton,  John,  143 


mimosa,  141 

Minaea,  58,  107,  109,  115,  119,  125, 
128 

Minasans,  104,  105,  108 
their  language,  104 
Jauf,  117 
Mingti,  263,  275 
Minibar  (see  Malabar),  215 
Minnagara,  8,  37,  39,  165,  166,  180 
Minos  of  Crete,  105 
mint,  213 

mirrors,  70,  220,  221 
Mitra,  Rajendralala,  220,  7.21,  224, 
246,  253,  256 
Mocha,  85,  106,  107,  147 
mocrotu,  26,  81 

Mogdishu  (Makdashu,  Magadoxo), 
74,  88,  92 

Mogul  monarchs,  189 
Mohammarah,  149 
Mohammed,  7,  131 
Mohammedan  conquests,  63,  96,  98 
travellers,  200 
Mokwanpur,  253 

molochine  = mallow  cloth,  73,  179 
Mombasa,  94 
monac/ie,  24,  27,  72,  179 
Monfiyeh,  94 
Mongolia,  253,  267,  272 
monkeys,  113,  121,  230,  237 
Monomotapa,  Kingdom  of,  97,  98 
Monophysite  Christianity,  57,  64 
monsoon,  6,  145,  173,  230,  232,  233, 
234 

Montu,  121 
Monze,  Cape,  161 
Moon,  Mountains  of,  87,  88 
country  of,  88,  230 
lake  of,  88 

men  of,  88  (Wanyamuezi) 
moringa,  113 
Morocco,  168,  192 
Morse,  H.  B. , 263 
Morung,  25  3 

Moscha,  35,  140,  143,  146 
Moselle,  77 
Moses,  59,  171 

Mosvllum,  10,  26,  63,  81,  82,  83, 
85,  86,  101,  104,  218 
rnoto , 26,  27 

Mountain  Island  ( Orine ),  23 

Mount  Zion,  118 

Movers,  F.  C.,  71,  79,  158,  160 

Mozambique,  143,  179 

Mrichchhakatika,  the,  221,  223,  257 

Mugheir,  152 

Muhammad  Kazim,  259 

Mukabber,  El,  150 

Mukharji,  T.  N.,  258 

mulberry,  76,  152,  263,  264 

Mullah,' the,  87 

Muller,  C. , 19,  67,  70,  81,  84,  86,  106, 
107,  114,  115,  116,  143,  147. 


312 


Muller,  C., — continued. 

151,  163,  171,  180,  181,  201, 
202,  242 

Muller,  D.  H.,  97,  109 
Mundus,  25,  26,  81 
murrhine  (glass).  (See  agate,  car- 
nelian ),  24,  68,  193,  194,  223 
Muscat  (Maskat),  80,  88,  91,  96, 
139,  142,  143,  147,  151 
musical  instruments,  with  silk  threads, 
263 

muslins,  3,  24,  31,  42,  43,  47,  165, 
172,  202 

Argaritic,  46,  242 
Gangetic,  47,  256-8 
Mussel  Harbor  (Myos  Hormos),  22, 
29,  52,  101,  103 
Muyiri-kotta  (see  Muziris),  205 
Muza,  25,  28,  30,  33,  34,  94,  104, 
106,  109,  114,  115,  116,  233 
Muziris,  44,  128,  203,  204,  205,  208, 
212,  233 
Myozasus,  50 
myrobalanus,  112 

myrrh,  4,  25,  26,  31,  57,  62,  77,  78, 
80,  86,  87,  102,  105,  112,  113, 
114,  116,  120,  122,  123,  132, 
139,  145,  164,  165,  169,  214, 
217,  218,  236 
aromatic,  113 
Ausaritic,  113  114 
collatitia,  113 
cultivated,  113 
Dianitic,  113 
Erythraean,  113 
Gebanite,  113 
Minasan,  113 
odoraria,  113 
Sabasan,  113 
Sambracenian,  113 
stacte,  113, 

Troglodytic,  113 
white,  113 
myrrh-country,  57 
myrtle,  112 
Mysore,  152,  257,  259 
mysteries,  Dionysiac,  132 

Nabataean  Troglodytae,  80 
Nabataeans,  11,  29,  51,  60,  80,  102, 
103,  104,  109,  200 
their  import  duty,  29,  104 
Nabatu,  60,  102 
Nabonidus,  152,  227 
Naga,  278 

Nagar  Parkar,  166,  173 
Nagarl,  180,  184 
nagas  (see  serpents),  250,  281 
Nahapana  (see  Nambanus),  175,  198, 
199,  200 
Nahum,  58,  69 
nails,  155,  156 
Nalopatana  (Nelcynda),  251 


Nambanus  (see  Nahapana),  39,  175, 
197,  198 

Nammadus  river  (see  Narbada),  30, 
182 

Nan-lu,  or  “Northern  Way”  across 
Turkestan,  268,  269,  270 
Nan-shan  (see  Kuen-lun),  269 
Nan-tau,  269 
Napata,  12,  58,  59,  78 
Naples,  77,  168 

Narbada  river  (see  Nammadus),  152, 
153,  181,  182,  193 

nard,  38,  111,  112,  169,  170,  188, 
189,  191,  214,  217,  265 
nature-worship,  138 
Naura,  44,  203,  204 
Navarrete,  55 
Naville,  120,  218 
Nearchus,  162 
Nebaioth,  60,  102 
Nebuchadrezzar,  7 
Necho,  Pharaoh,  101 
negroes,  97,  98,  194 
“negro-land,”  153,  158 
Nehemiah,  Book  of,  122 
Nejran,  117 

Nelcvnda,  (Neacyndi,  Melkynda),  44, 
203,  205,  207,  208,  211,  215, 
233,  234,  236,  237,  254,  256, 
273 

Nellore,  248 

Nepal,  151,  194,  253,  257,  272,  279, 
281 

Nergal,  134 

Nero,  12,  14,  59,  109,  194,  204,  219, 
220,  237 
Nerva,  220 
Nicomedia,  220 
Nicon,  27,  92 
Niebuhr,  Carsten,  107,  130 
Nile,  3,  4,  15,  16,  23,  47,  51,  52,  56, 
57,  58,  59,  60,  68,  75,  98,  99, 
103,  117,  118,  120,  146,  153, 
158,  213,  228,  230,  232,  265 
sources,  Indian  knowledge  of,  230 
Nlleshwar,  205 
Nimrod,  134,  163 
Nimrud  Inscription,  123,  149 
Nineveh,  127 
Nisaea,  170 
Nishapur,  170 
Nitocris,  Stela  of,  158 
Nitran,  Nitrias,  Nitra  (see  White 
Island),  203,  233 
nitre,  68 

Nizam’s  dominions,  197 
Noah,  76,  163 
No-Amon,  69 
Noel,  268 
Nogal  Valley,  219 
nomads,  29,  30,  32 
North  India,  152,  163,  187,  195,  197, 
199,  210,  235,  238,  258,  263, 
264 


313 


Nubia,  12,  15,  56,  57,  58,  59,  60, 
61,  62,  134 

Numbers,  Book  of,  78,  164 
Nundo  Lai  Dey,  201 
Nyanza  lakes,  57,  87,  88,  99 
Nvassa,  Lake,  88,  99 

Oannes,  159 
Obadiah,  102 
Obal,  74,  149 

Obollah  (Apologus,  Ubulu),  4,  74, 
149 

obsidian,  66 

ocean-stream,  92,  251,  277,  278 
ocean,  unexplored,  29,  101 
Ocelis,  25,  31,  32,  65,  83,  89,  107, 
114,  115,  147,  233 
ochre,  reef,  137 
O’Connor,  279 

Odoric,  Friar,  155,  208,  215,  249 
Odras,  253 
oenanthe,  112 
oil,  4,  13,  122,  216 
ointments,  13,  31,  42,  82,  110,  111, 
112,  113,  114,  130,  169,  170, 
189,  191,  192,  217,  239,  265 
Old  Testament,  237 
olive,  75,  77 

olive  oil,  24,  34,  75,  169,  177 
Olok,  86 
Olympia,  54 
Olympus,  282 

Oman,  112,  129,  130,  142,  144,  145, 
147,  148,  150,  151,  157,  161, 
230,  237 

Omana,  34,  129,  139,  140,  150 
Omanites,  63,  140,  150 
Ommana,  32,  36,  71,  150,  151,  153, 
160,  161,  164 
Ommano,  river,  150 
omphacium,  75,  76,  112 
Omphale,  192 
onJanique , 70 

Onesicritus,  115,  161,  178,  249 
onycha,  122 

onyx  stone,  3,  193,  194,  223,  225 
opal,  223 
Ophiodes,  167 

Ophir,  97,  151,  160,  161,  175,  260 
supposed  location  in  East  Africa, 
97 

opium,  215 
opobalsamum,  112 
Opone,  27,  83,  87,  90,  135 
Oppert,  78,  177 
Oppidum  Sacce,  62,  63 
opsian  stone,  23,  66 
Bay  of,  66 
Ora,  161,  162 
Oraea,  37,  161 

oreichalch  (aurichalcum),  69,  78 
Orenburg-,  171 
orgies,  Dionysiac,  132-3 
Orissa,  253 


Orit;e,  Ori,  161,  162,  164,  221 
Ormes  (see  Hormus),  155 
Orotal  = Dionysus,  132 
orpiment,  45,  191,  221 
Orrhotha,  251 
Osiris,  76,  132,  133,  146 
Osor-hapi  (Serapis),  146 
Ostia,  harbor-works  at,  220 
ostrich  feathers,  4,  57 
Oudh,  242 
oxen,  58,  158,  196 
Oxford,  153 
ox-gall,  169 

Oxus  river,  186,  268,  269,  277 
Oxydracae,  70 

Oyster  Rocks  (see  Caenitae),  202 
Ozene,  42,  187,  270 
oxcenitis  (see  spikenard),  256 

Pa-anch,  Island  of,  87,  133,  1 35,  162, 
271 

packs,  48,  281 
Pacorus,  103 
Pactyan  land,  189 

Padaeans  ( see  Cannibals : Purushada), 
254,  255 

Paethana,  43,  195,  196,  199 
pagoda,  Buddhist:  Abyssinian,  64 
Chinese,  274 
Hindu,  65 
Pahang,  259 
Pahlavas,  235 
paint,  221 

Paithan,  195,  196,  199,  200 
Palaepatmas,  43,  201 
Palassimundu,  47,  249 
Palestine,  71,  102,  122,  159 
Palibothra  (see  Pataliputra),  270 
Palk  strait,  241 

Pallava  dynasties,  167,  204,  244 
palm-leaves,  35 
palm-oil,  29,  99 
fiber,  154 
trees,  130 

Palmyra,  4,  6,  101,  103 

Pamirs,  166,  268,  269,  270,  273,  281 

Pamphile,  264 

Panama,  Bay  of,  183 

panax,  112 

Panchaia,  87,  135,  136,  271 
Panchao,  9,  11,  166,  186,  263,  268 
Pandaea  (see  Pandya),  238 
Pandian  kingdom  (see  Pandya:  Pan- 
dion),  44,  46,  211,  233 
Pandian,  J.  B.,  209 
Pandit  Bhagvanlal  Indraji,  175,  200 
Pandu,  Panda va,  238,  253 
Pandya,  195,  197,  204,  205,  207,  208, 
211,  237,  238,  241,  242,  255, 
281 

Pangani,  94 

Panjab,  153,  166,  167,  170,  172,  183, 
185,  187,  270 
Panna,  224 


314 


Pano,  27,  87,  135 
panthers,  61 

panther  skins,  57,  113,  121 
Paphos,  123 
Papica,  39,  40,  181 
papyrus,  111 

Papyrus  Harris,  61,  77,  122,  158 
Paralia,  46,  47,  234 
Paripatana  (see  Palaspatmae),  201 
Park,  Mungo,  89,  90 
Parker,  E.  H.,  263 
Paropanisene,  Paropanisus  (see  Hindu 
Kush),  42,  189 
Parsees,  127 
Parsida?,  36,  161 
Parsis,  163 

Parthia,  5,  6,  8,  14,  16,  63,  65,  70, 
103,  117,  119,  127,  139,  140, 
146,  147,  149,  150,  151,  161, 
166,  171,  172,  184,  185,  187, 
194,  198,  235,  269,  270,  276, 
277 

Parthian  kings,  chronological  list  of, 
110 

Parthian  princes,  37,  166,  167,  185, 
190 

kings,  112 
Parti,  251 

Parur,  Paravur  (see  Karuviir,  Muzi- 
ris),  205,  208,  215 
Pasargadae,  50-1 
Patala,  166,  232 

Pataliputra  (Patna),  184,  185  236, 

258 
Patras,  71 

Patta,  Manda  and  Lamu,  94 
Pausanias,  62,  71,  132,  143,  145,  146, 
209 

Pausias,  191 
Pauthier,  144 
peacocks,  61,  175 


pearls,  6, 

13,  36 

, 45, 

46, 

47,  74, 

123, 

148 

, 151, 

156, 

164, 

, 168, 

210, 

221 

, 222, 

223, 

224, 

, 239, 

240, 

241 

, 249, 

256 

pearl-mussel,  148 

-fisheries,  239,  240,  241 
Pegu,  252 

Pei-lu,  268,  269,  270 

Pei-shan  (see  Tian-shan),  269 

Pei-tau,  269 

Peking,  272 

Pemba,  94 

Penner  river,  241 

Pepi  II,  121 

pepper,  6,  44,  45,  169,  192,  195,  202, 
204,  205,  210,  211,  213,  214, 
215,  216,  225,  227,  234,  241, 
248,  250,  251,  251,  273 
long,  42,  142,  194,  195,  213 
peratikos , 75 

perfume,  110,  111,  113,  114,  122, 
124,  143,  169,  170,  190,  217, 
233,  270 


Perim,  114,  115 

Periplus  of  the  Erythrasan  Sea,  3,  7, 
8,  9,  10,  11,  12,  14,  15,  62, 
63,  64,  65,  67,  68,  70,  71,  72, 
73,  74,  76,  77,  78,  79,  83,  86, 


89, 

92,  94,  96 

, 97, 

101, 

103, 

105. 

, 106, 

108, 

109, 

114, 

115, 

116, 

, H7, 

119, 

121, 

124, 

128, 

129. 

, 130, 

132, 

135, 

138, 

140, 

143. 

, 144, 

146, 

147, 

149, 

150, 

152, 

, 153, 

154, 

156, 

160, 

161, 

165. 

, 166, 

167, 

168, 

170, 

171, 

172, 

, 174, 

176, 

178, 

179, 

180, 

181, 

, 184, 

185, 

188, 

189, 

191, 

194, 

, 196, 

197, 

198, 

199, 

200, 

204, 

205, 

207, 

208, 

209, 

211, 

216, 

217, 

218, 

219, 

220, 

222, 

226, 

227, 

228, 

231, 

232, 

234, 

236, 

237, 

238, 

241, 

242, 

250, 

252, 

255, 

258, 

260, 

261, 

265, 

266, 

269, 

270, 

272, 

274, 

275, 

278, 

279, 

282 

Periplus,  date  and  authorship  of,  7-36, 
197-200,  290-3 

articles  of  trade  mentioned  in, 
284-8 

bibliography  of,  17-21 
distances  in,  54-5 
meaning  of,  50 
rulers  mentioned  in,  294 
text  of,  22-49 
Periyar  river,  205 

Persia,  14,  16,  32,  35,  37,  59,  70,  84, 
96,  118,  123,  127,  147,  150, 
153,  160,  161,  170,  172,  176, 
183,  189,  191,  192,  223,  250, 
251,  256,  264,  267 
Persian  Empire,  123,  213 

embassy  to  the  Deccan,  248 
sea-trade  from  China,  84 
Persian  Gulf,  3,  4,  14,  16,  35,  36, 
50,  58,  71,  74,  77,  87,  101, 
107,  136,  140,  148,  149,  150, 
151,  152,  153,  155,  159,  160, 
162,  163,  164,  175,  191,  194, 
201,  209,  213,  221,  222,  230, 
249,  251 

Persians,  51,  63,  70,  112,  116,  132, 
162,  213,  247,  250,  251,  252, 
264 

Perthes,  Justus,  206 
Peshawar,  183,  184 
Petenikas,  195 

Petra,  4,  6,  29,  101,  102,  103,  109, 
128 

in  Chinese  annals,  128 
Romans  at,  102 

petri  (“fibers,”  should  be patra,  leaf), 
48,  281 

Petrie,  Flinders,  102 
Petronius,  12,  15,  59,  77,  194 
Peucelaotis  (see  Poclais),  184,  270 
Peutinger  Tables,  204,  206,  208 
pewter,  78 


315 


Pharaohs,  3,  4,  120,  121,  162 
Philae,  59 
Philip,  11 

Philostratus  of  Lemnos,  69 
Phoenicia,  68,  103,  160 
Phoenicians,  3,  4,  68,  71,  77,  78,  83, 
87,  97,  131,  132,  135,  147, 
158,  159,  160,  164,  170,  210, 
229 

expedition  around  Africa,  101 
phoenix,  135-6,  158 
phoinix,  158 
Phrygians,  132 
Piankhi,  162 
Piers  Plowman,  215 
Pigeon  Island  (see  White  Island),  203 
pigmies  and  cranes,  254 
pine,  80,  111 

Ping-chou  (see  Shan-si),  263 
Piram  island  (see  Baeonesj,  181 
pirates,  44,  20 2,  203,  204,  232,  233 
PIrmed  Hills,  208 
Pitalkhara  caves,  195 
plate,  gold  and  silver,  24,  26,  38 
Plates,  264 
plates,  34 

Pliny,  7,  8,  9,  10,  12,  14,  15,  61,  62, 
66,  68,  69,  71,  72,  76,  78,  80, 
81,  82,  83,  84,  86,  90,  101, 
105,  106,  108,  111,  112,  113, 

114,  115,  118,  120,  123,  124, 
126,  133,  135,  137,  138,  144, 
145,  147,  149,  150,  151,  153, 
156,  158,  160,  161,  164,  167, 
168,  169,  170,  171,  172,  178, 
179,  188,  189,  190,  191,  192, 
194,  195,  201,  203,  205,  208, 
209,  212,  213,  214,  216,  217, 
220,  221,  222,  223,  224,  226, 
227,  232,  237,  238,  239,  240, 
249,  253,  256,  258,  259,  260, 
264,  265,  281 

Plutarch,  123,  133,  146,  189 

Poclais,  41,  42,  183 

Poduca,  46,  242 

Poen , 62,  159,  162 

Pokomo  language,  in  E.  Africa,  98 

Pollux,  71 

Polo,  Marco,  3,  66,  70,  84,  92,  99, 

115,  120,  129,  135,  140,  143, 
144,  145,  146,  154,  155,  157, 
162,  170,  173,  179,  202,  203, 
214,  221,  225,  227,  235,  237, 
240,  241,  247,  248,  249,  270, 
273,  281 

Polumbum  (see  Quilon),  215 
pomegranite,  112 
Pompeii,  169 

Pompey  the  Great,  153,  194 
Pomponius  Mela,  his  map  of  the 
world,  100,  101,  252,  277,  281 
Pondicherry  (see  Poduca),  242 
Ponnani  (see  Tyndis),  204,  205 
Pontus,  48 


Poppaea  (Sabina),  14,  123,  237 

Porakad  (see  Bacare),  211,  212 

porcelain,  225 

Porebandar,  91 

Port  Sudan,  60 

Porphyry,  139 

Portugal,  66,  227 

Portuguese,  75,  81,  101,  202,  204, 
212,  214,  215,  222,  241 
Porus,  69,  180 
Prasum,  94 

precious  stones,  3,  4,  13,  105,  122, 
123,  149,  168,  175,  221,  222, 
223,  225,  227,  229,  249,  256, 
257,  276 

“sham  curiosities”  for  Chinese 
trade,  277 
Prester  John,  267 
Priscian,  159 

Pritchett,  R.  T.,  53,  246 
Prjevalski,  273 
Proverbs,  Book  of,  82 
Psalms,  Book  of,  82 
Psammetichus  (Psamtik)  II,  58,  158 
Pseudo-Callisthenes,  279 
Psygmus,  86 
Ptah,  61 

Ptolemais  of  the  Hunts  ( Ptolemais 
Theron),  22,  52,  60 
Ptolemies,  the,  4,  5,  22,  51,  59,  63, 
68,  84,  89,  102,  103,  108,  135, 
167,  213 

Ptolemy  Euergetes,  60,  63,  82 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  51,  52,  60,  68 
Ptolemy  (the  geographer),  7,  55,  94, 
97,  101,  105,  106,  107,  116, 
118,  129,  133,  140,  141,  143, 
150,  162,  163,  175,  182,  188, 
200,  201,  203,  205,  208,  211, 
212,  228,  242,  249,  253,  256, 
259,  260,  266,  269,  272,  273, 
278,  279 

Pudapatana  (Poduca?),  251 
Pukkalaoti  (see  Poclais),  184 
Pulikat,  242 
pulse,  178 
Pulumayi  II,  195 
Puni  (Phoenicians),  87,  135 
Punt  Expedition,  52,  80,  143,  159, 
228,  245,  271 

Punt,  Land  of,  61,  73,  78,  82,  83, 
86,  113,  121,  122,  135,  142, 
143,  144,  153 
Punt-people,  62,  120,  218 

reliefs,  120,  164,  218,  272 
Purali  (see  Paralia,  Travancore),  234 
Purali  River,  105,  161 
Puranas,  198,  199,  200,J202,  230,  236, 
253 

Matsya,  199 

Vara  Sanhita,  254,  255 

Vayu,  199 

Vishnu,  174,  253,  254 
Purindrasena,  199 


316 


purple,  13,  36,  73,  156,  157 
Tyrian,  145 
Pushkala,  238 

Pushkalavatl  (see  Poclais),  183,  184, 
238 

Put,  69 

Pyralaie  Islands  and  channel,  28,  94 
Pyramids,  76,  261 
Pyrrhon  mountain,  46,  234 
Pythangelus,  86 

quartz,  quartzose,  223,  224 
Querimbo  Islands,  88 
quicksilver,  137,  215 
Quilon,  211,  248 

Raamah,  105,  159,  161,  162 
radix  Chinee , 157 
Raffles,  Sir  Stamford,  245 
Rafizah  sect,  74 
rafts,  25,  32,  50,  126,  127 
Raghu,  242 
Raidan,  109,  119 

Rajapur  (see  Melizigara),  201,  215 

Rajpipla,  State  of,  193 

Rajput  pilots,  75 

Rajputana,  151,  223 

Raksha  Ravana,  226,  237,  249 

Rama,  230,  237,  242 

Ramanuja,  257 

Ramdyana,  174,  226,  230,  234,  236, 
237,  238,  249,  250,  253,  257, 
264,  281,  282 
Rameses  II,  122 

Rameses  III,  58,  61,  78,  122,  158 
Ramusio,  17 

Rann  of  Cutch,  135,  166,  173,  174 

Rapson,  E.  J.,  192,  200,  244 

Ras  Asir,  85 

Ras  As  wad,  92 

Ras  Binna,  86 

Ras  Chenarif,  86 

Ras  el  Fil,  or  Filuk,  85,  86 

Ras  el  Hadd,  117,  118,  127,  147 

Ras  el  Kelb,  129 

Ras  el  Khyma,  91 

Ras  el  Kyi,  92 

Ras  el  Sair,  115 

Ras  Fartak,  117,  129,  133,  140,  232 

Ras  Hadadeh,  85 

Ras  Hafun,  87 

Ras  Hantara,  81,  82,  85 

Ras  Hasik,  129,  140,  146 

Ras  Khamzir,  81,  85 

Ras  Mirbat,  140 

Ras  Musandum,  148,  150 

Ras  Nuh,  161 

Ras  Ormara,  161 

Ras  Risut,  140 

Rashtrika,  175 

Ratnagiri  coast,  201,  215 

Raven  Castle,  116 

Ravenna,  Geographer  of,  208 

Rawlinson,  14 


realgar,  42,  45,  191,  192,  221 
Rebmann  and  Ehrhardt,  their  map  of 
E.  Africa,  88 

Reclus,  Elisee,  165,  166,  175,  182, 
207 

Red  Bluffs  (see  Pyrrhon,  Varkkallai), 
234 

red  lead,  221 
Red  Men,  3,  51 

Red  Sea,  3,  5,  7,  8,  50,  51,  52,  57, 
59,  60,  66,  75,  88,  89,  99,  104, 
105,  108,  116,  117,  146,  151, 

167,  168,  169,  179,  183,  201, 
223,  233,  234 

Regia  Cinnamomifera,  83 
Reichard,  19 
Reinaud,  1 5 5,  268 
Rekem,  102,  128 

religions  of  India  at  the  time  of  the 
Periplus,  235 
Remusat,  272 
Renonsari,  179 
resin,  112,  192,  236 
Retenu,  61 

Revelation,  Book  of,  13,  192 
Rhadamaeans,  105 
Rhadamanthus,  105 
Rhambacia,  37,  105,  162,  163 
Rhamnae,  105,  162,  163 
Rhapta,  28,  94,  97 
rhinoceros,  23,  73,  98 
rhinoceros-horn,  24,  29,  73,  276 
Rhinocolura,  103 
Rhodes,  111 
Rhodesia,  96,  97,  98 
Rhone,  78 
rhubarb,  157 

rice,  27,  34,  37,  39,  76,  104,  176, 
178,  221,  256 
Richard,  263 

Richthofen,  F.  von,  268,  269,  270, 
272 

rift-vallev,  in  E.  Africa,  98,  99 
Ritter,  106,  107,  116,  148,  170,  242 
roads  (in  India),  196,  253 
robes,  from  Arsinoe,  24 
Rocher,  273 

RockhiU,  William  Woodville,  273 
Rogers,  J.  E.  Thorold,  214 
Rohri  Hills,  174 

Roman  Emperors,  chronological  list 
of,  110;  coins  of,  220 
Chinese  account  of,  275-7 
coinage,  192,  193,  204,  276 
in  India,  219,  220,  234 
in  Ceylon,  compared  with 
Persian,  252 

“embassy”  to  China,  276 
Empire,  12,  76,  77,  108,  151, 

168,  169,  185,  187,  191,  214, 
217,  228,  275 

geographers,  150,  277 
republic,  77 
senate,  103  , 219,  265 


317 


Roman  shipping,  160,  231 
Romans,  63,  68,  76,  78,  82,  89,  101, 
102,  106,  108,  109,  111.  31, 

137,  152,  160,  167,  169,  170, 
171,  172,  178,  187,  190,  192, 
193,  194,  204,  205,  213,  223, 
224,  236,  251,  252,  256,  260, 
265,  269,  275 

Rome,  5,  6,  11,  12,  13,  14,  63,  65, 
84,  89,  90,  96,  102,  103,  104, 
109,  124,  128,  147,  153,  160, 
164,  167,  168,  169,  172,  177, 
187,  189,  191,  198,  209,  213, 
214,  215,  216,  219,  220,  222, 
235,  236,  239,  240,  242,  270 
roses,  oil  of,  112,  191 
rosewood,  153 

rubies,  222,  223,  224,  226,  227 

rudders,  231,  248 

Rudolf,  Lake,  99 

Rud  Shur,  221 

Rudra  (see  Siva),  235 

rugs,  gold-embroidered,  276 

Rukaym,  142 

Rum,  249 

rushes,  86 

Russia,  76,  171 

Ryder,  A.  W.,  221 

Saba,  59,  63,  104,  105,  106,  108,  119, 
124,  179 

Saba  the  Great,  108,  109 
Sabseans,  (Sabaites),  10,  11,  30,  51, 
62,  63,  68,  71,  96,  97,  104, 
105,  107,  108,  109,  115,  116, 
117,  119,  124,  125,  128,  142, 
143,  145,  147 
in  Ceylon,  250 
Sabakha,  150 
Sabatier,  220 

Sabbatha,  4,  32,  116,  119,  126,  133 
Saheans,  104 
Sabi  River,  96 
Sabis,  126,  133 
Sabitu,  135 
sables,  Russian,  171 
Sabota  (see  Sabbatha),  120,  124,  126 
133 

Sabtah,  162 
Sabteca,  162 
Sacae,  62,  269 
Sacaea,  62,  145,  146 
sacchari,  27,  90 

Sachalites,  bay  of,  33,  120,  129,  139, 
160 

Sachalitic  Country,  35,  272 

frankincense,  126,  130,  218 
safflower,  111 
saffron,  31,  110,  111,  214| 
oil  of,  112 
Sagar  island,  25  5 
Saghar,  133 

sagmatogene , 24,  27,  72,  179 
Sahure,  113,  121 


sail-boats,  35 
Saizanas,  67 

Saka,  10,  165,  166,  167,  175,  176, 
180,  185,  188,  195,  196,  197, 
198,  199,  204,  235,  236 
coinage,  190 
era,  197,  198 
Sakastene,  166,  185 
Sakunta/a,  the,  229 
Sakyamuni  Gautama  Buddha,  187 
Salah,  107 
Salamis,  171 

Salike  (see  Ceylon),  249 
Salmasius,  71 
Salome,  11 
Salopatana,  251 
Salsette  island,  155 
salt,  77,  156 

Salt,  Henry,  9,  10,  66,  67,  85,  88, 
133 

salt  mines,  119 
Samarcand,  268 
Sambalpur  224 
Samnium,  66 
sampsuchum,  112 
Sanaa,  107,  115 
Sanabares,  200 
sand,  68 

sandalwood,  6,  36,  152,  175,  250 
Sandanes  (see  Sandares),  197,  200 
sanJarake,  191,  192 
Sandares,  8,  43,  197,  198,  199,  200 
Sandberg,  273 
Sand-Dwellers,  122 
sangara,  46,  243 
Santarensian  tin  mine,  190 
Saphar,  Zafar,  Sapphar,  30,  107,  109, 
116,  119,  140,  141,  233 
sapphires,  45,  167,  170,  171,  222, 
223,  226,  227 

sapphires  (see  lapis  lazuli),  38,  122, 
170,  223 

Saracens,  59,  76,  94,  101,  149,  163, 
241,  242 

Saraganus,  43,  197,  198,  199 
Sarapion,  27,  92 

Sarapis,  35,  146,  153,  160,  163,  209 
Sarasvati  river,  174 
sarda  (see  carnelian),  223 
Sardinia,  168 

sardonyx  (see  chalcedony),  223 
Sarikol  (see  Serica),  269 
Saris,  Capt. , 85 

sasamin  wood  (blackwood,  sesamin), 
152,  251 
sashes,  31 

Sassanids,  7,  172,  267 
Satakarni  (see  Saraganus),  198 
Sati,  187 

Satiya,  Satiyaputra,  204,  205 
Satraps, 

Northern,  167 

Western,  167,  188,  197,  198, 
200,  236 


318 


Saua,  Sa’b,  Save,  30,  107,  233 
Saukira  Hav,  133 
Savitri  river,  201 
Sawahil,  160 

Savce,  Prof.  A.  H.,  71,  165 
scarlet,  13,  73,  214,  227 
schoeni,  measure,  equivalent  of,  125 
Schwanbeck,  115 
Scylax  of  Caryanda,  189 
Scvrites,  Scyrita;  (see  Cirrhad*),  253, 
266 

Scythia,  8,  32,  37,  39,  42,  45,  146, 
166,  190,  267 

Scythian  Ocean  (Arctic),  260 
Scyths,  165,  166,  257,  260,  267 
sea-trade,  228,  229,  245-7,  259,  '261 
Seba,  162 

Sebennytic  mouth,  68 
Sebni,  121 
Seine,  77 
Seistan,  166,  185 
Sela,  102 
Seleucida;,  149 
Seleucus,  184,  189 
Seleucus  Callinicus,  169 
Seleucus  II,  123 
Semele,  132 

Semiramis  mountain,  36,  148 
Semites,  107,  176 
Semylla,  43,  200 
sendels,  273 
Senegal,  89,  157 
September,  31 
Septimius  Severus,  219 
Ser,  river,  146 
Sera,  island,  163 
Sera  Metropolis,  269 
Serandip,  Serendib,  163,  249 
Seres,  70,  76,  146,  171,  172,  179, 
209,  265,  266,  267,  269 
Seria,  146 

Serica  (see  also  Sarikol),  267 
serichatum,  112 
Seric  skins,  38,  171 
tissues,  265 
serpentine,  223 

serpents,  37,  38,  43,  44,  131-3,  138, 
145,  165,  236 

guardians  of  cinnamon,  132 
of  diamonds,  225,  226 
of  frankincense,  128,  131-2 
of  medicinal  waters,  132 
of  pepper,  215,  216 
of  various  gums,  132 
in  the  Indian  Ocean  (see  grace), 
37,  44,  165 

progenitor  of  Abyssinian  dynasty, 
133 

serpent-worship,  131,  236,  237, 
241,  279 

souls  of  the  dead,  131 
tree-spirits,  131 
winged,  131 

sesame  oil,  27,  35,  39,  176,  177 


sesamum,  178 

Sesecrienas  islands,  44,  202 

Sesostris,  51,  192 

Sewell,  R.,  209,  210 

Seyffarth,  136 

Shabaka,  162 

Shabwa  (see  Sabbatha) 

Shafia  sect,  74 
Shah-bandar,  165 
Shamash-Napishtim,  13  5 
Shams,  the  Sabaean  sun-god,  133 
Slums,  the,  273,  275 
Shan-si,  263 
sharks,  145,  241 

charms  against,  241 
Shatt-el-Arab  river,  149,  265 
shawls,  169,  257 
Sheba,  105,  123,  162 
Sheba,  Queen  of,  67,  123 
sheep,  13,  30,  71,  149,  156,  176,  259, 
267 

Shehr,  129,  160 
Shehri  luban,  218 
Sheikh  Sa’id,  115 
shells,  224,  259 
shellac,  73 
Shem,  107,  163 
Shencottah  Pas.  212 
Shen-si,  261,  262 
Sherring,  27? 

Sheshonk  I (o-  Shisnakj,  58 
Shibam,  117,  IIS 
Shinar,  Chief  of,  122 
ships,  25,  26,  27,  28,  30,  35,  36,  37, 
40,  41,  44,  45,  46,  75,  209, 
210,  212,  213,  230 
Andhra,  243-5 

Arabian,  28,  44,  106,  128,  227 
Carthaginian,  279,  280 
Dravidian,  46,  227 
Eastern,  46,  227,  273 
Egyptian,  51,  52 
from  the  north  (Bengal),  46,  242, 
255,  272 
Greek,  43 
Gujarati,  244-5 
Hadramaut,  127 
Hebrew,  260 

Hindu,  27,  107,  115,  128,  201, 
229 

Malabar,  227,  243-5 
Malay,  Burmese  and  Chinese, 
246-7 

Persian,  244 

Persian  Gulf,  154-6,  227 
Roman,  78,  227 
ship’s  head,  230-1 
shipwrecks,  29,  38,  41 
type  used  by  author  of  Periplus, 
52-3 

Shoa,  75 

Siam,  227,  252,  279 
Sibal,  237 
Sibor,  251 


319 


Sicily,  76,  168 
Sicyon,  191 

Sidon,  158,  159,  160,  265 
Sidonia,  159 

Sielediba  (see  Ceylon,  Sinhala-dvipa), 
249,  250,  251,  252 
Sigerus  (see  Melizigara),  201,  232 
Sikkim,  151,  188,  253,  272,  279,  280, 
281 

silent  trade,  250,  267,  279,  280,  281 
Si-ling,  263 

silk,  13,  146,  172,  179,  196,  214, 
259,  263,  264,  265,  266,  267, 
274,  281 
tasar,  264 
wild,  276 

silk  cloth,  42,  45,  48,  171,  172,  191, 
194,  222,  250,  251,  257,  263, 
264,  265,  270,  273,  276 
silk,  raw,  48,  263,  264 
silk-route,  172,  263,  268,  269,  275 
silkworm,  76,  263,  266,  275 

eggs  of,  brought  to  Constan- 
tinople, 267 

silk  yarn,  38,  48,  172,  264,  270 
silver,  13,  24,  25,  26,  31,  33,  42,  61, 
69,  77,  78,  102,  122,  175,  191, 
192,  214,  219,  227,  249,  252, 
259,  273,  276 
Silvester,  St.?  214 
Simpson,  William,  159 
Sinae,  266,  273 
Sinbad  the  Sailor,  156,  225 
Sind,  Sindu,  172,  248,  251 
sindon,  165,  172 

Singan-fu,  11,  261,  262,  268,  270, 
111,  274,  279 

road  to,  from  Lo-yang,  262 
Singapore,  246 

Singhala  (see  Ceylon),  255,  273 
singing  boys,  42 

Sinhalese,  235,  239,  241,  250,  267 

Sinim,  the,  264,  266 

Sining-fu,  272,  279 

Sinthus  river,  37,  38,  165 

Sipra  river,  187 

Siraf,  155 

Sirangala,  190 

STta,  226,  230,  237,  249,  257 
Slta-quest,  282 

Siva,  138,  187,  201,  208,  235,  238, 
254,  281 

Siva  Satakami,  199 
SivajI,  203 
skins,  32,  257,  263 
seric,  38 

slaves,  13,  25,  27,  29,  33,  34,  36,  58, 
74,  88,  91,  96,  161,  191 
Smith,  Vincent  A.,  166,  180,  183, 
184,  189,  198,  200,  204,  205, 
209,  210,  235,  238,  242 
Smith,  W.  Robertson,  119,  130,  132, 
236 

snails,  216 


snakes  (see  serpents),  34,  44 
Socotra  (see  Dioscorida),  4,  62,  63, 
76,  87,  119,  129,  133,  135, 
137,  138,  139,  144,  162,  163, 
237,  271,  272 
Sofala,  88,  97 
Sofala-Ophir  theory,  98 
Sohar,  151 

Soli  (see  ChGla),  241,  249 
Solomon,  58,  61,  67,  97,  147,  151, 

160,  176,  260 

Ophir  voyages  of,  97,  260 
Song  of,  82,  123,  193 
Somali  coast  of  Africa,  52,  58,  60, 
61,  62,  63,  74,  75,  77,  79,  80, 
81,  83,  88,  89,  106,  112,  118, 
120,  124,  137,  145,  172,  178, 
182,  217,  218,  219,  228,  271 
S5n  river,  258 

Sonargaon,  Suvarnagrama,  255 
Sonmiani  Bay,  161 
Sopara  (see  Suppara),  197 
Sopater,  Roman  merchant  in  Ceylon, 
251-2 

Sopatma,  46,  242 
Sophir  (see  Suppara) 

South  America,  138 
South  Arabia,  6,  9,  11,  14,  51,  52, 
58,  61,  62,  63,  75,  76,  77,  80, 
87,  94,  97,  106,  107,  108,  112, 
120,  127,  129,  140,  141,  142, 
145,  147,  148,  154,  159,  160, 

161,  162,  218,  228,  267,  271 
South  Countries,  61 

Southern  Horn  (Notu  Ceras,  Cape 
Guardafui),  86 

South  India,  152,  162,  167,  171,  187, 
195,  205,  208,  209,  210,  213, 

216,  220,  221,  227,  230,  235, 
237,  239,  241,  243,  244,  259, 
261 

coinage  of,  221,  243-5 
Spain,  68,  70,  77,  78,  190 
spartum,  111 
Spasinus,  149 
Speck,  268 

Speke,  Lieut.  J.  H.,  87,  96,  230 
spices,  3,  4,  6,  25,  26,  105,  115,  121, 
122,  123,  124,  149,  157,  169, 
211,  214,  218,  237,  273 
Spices,  Market  and  Cape  of,  26,  33, 
45,  82,  85,  86 

spikenard,  42,  45,  112,  170,  188,  189, 

217,  251,  273 
Gangetic,  47,  222,  256 

spinel,  222 
spondylium,  216 
sponge,  74 

Sprenger,  Aloys,  105,  107,  114,  116, 
148,  164 

Sramanas,  Buddhist  missionaries  to 
China,  275 
SravastI,  188 


320 


stacte  ( Gebanite-Minaean),  31,  112, 

113,  114,  122 

stadia,  various  units  in  Roman  use, 
and  equivalents  in  modern  mea- 
surement, 54-5 
in  Persian  schoeni,  125 
Stanford,  270 
statues,  66 

steel,  24,  70,  71,  172,  225 
steering-,  method  of,  230,  231,  232, 
247 

Stein,  M.  A.,  268,  269,  270,  272 
Stephanus  Bvzantius,  62,  140,  145 
stibnite,  stimuli,  192 
Stieler,  270 

StifFe,  Capt.  A.  W. , 155 
stones,  transparent,  45,  47,  222 
Stone  Tower,  the  (see  Tashkurghan), 
269,  281 

storax,  33,  37,  42,  112,  127,  128,  214, 
216,  276 

Strabo,  7,  16,  52,  55,  68,  69,  77,  78, 
83,  86,  101,  102,  103,  105,  108, 

114,  116,  118,  145,  146,  149, 
157,  159,  161,  162,  167,  176, 
177,  178,  184,  189,  217,  249, 
254,  255,  259,  277,  278 

straits  (of  Bab-el-Mandeb),  52 
of  Malacca,  127 
Streubel,  19 
Stuck,  18,  259 
styinmata , 112 
sty  rax,  131 
Suakin,  66 

Sudan,  56,  60,  61,  74,  99 
Sadr  as,  253 
Suetonius,  78 
Suez,  52,  68 

Gulf  of,  273 
sugar,  90 

su-ho  (see  storax),  128,  276 
Suklatirtha,  180 
Sumatra,  127,  138,  252 
sumpter-mules,  31 

Sundara  Satakarni  (see  Sandares),  198, 
199,  200 
Sungaria,  269 
Sunium,  Cape,  190 
sun-worship,  162,  163,  211 
Snppara  (Shurparaka),  43,  175,  197 
Sur,  SI,  147 

urashtra,  174,  176,  184,  185,  188, 
197,  199 

Surat,  176,  179,  182,  183,  237 
Sutlej  river  (Satlaj),  174,  180,  272 
suwat  river,  184 

■ rihili  language,  in  E.  Africa,  98, 
129 

sweet  rush  (cyperus),  31,  111,  112 
sweet  wood,  13 
Swiss  lake-dwellers,  76 
swords,  24,  70 

Syagrus  (see  Ras  Fartakl,  33,  34, 
129,  1 33,  139,  232 


Syagrus  dates,  158 
Sylla,  239 

Symulla  (see  Semylla),  200 
Syncellus,  159 
Syrastrene,  39,  40,  175,  176 
Syr  Daria  (see  Jaxartes),  277 
Syria,  5,  58,  61,  71,  76,  77,  87,  102, 
108,  111,  122,  123,  128,  131, 
138,  149,  158,  184,  213,  264, 
270,  275 

Syrian  Christians,  208 

Tabae,  26,  27,  86 

tabu  (on  frankincense  gatherers),  145 

Tacitus,  219,  265 

Tagara,  43,  196 

Taghdumbash  valley,  269 

Taharka,  78,  162 

Ta’is,  107 

Taka,  140 

Takakusu,  213,  275 

Taksha,  238 

Takshasila  (see  Taxila),  183,  238 
tamala  (see  malabathrum,  cinnamon), 
216,  279,  281 

Tamalipti  ( To-mn-li-ti ) (see  Tamra- 
lipti),  272 
tamarisk,  165 

Tamil  ( see  Damirica),  176,  197,  204, 
205,  207,  208,  209,  211 
Tamra-lipti  (Tamluk),  249,  255 
Tamraparni  river  (see  Taprobane, 
Tambapanni),  237,  249,  255 
Tana  River,  98 
Tanais  river  (Don),  277,  278 
Tanganyika,  88,  99 
Tanjore,  242 
tannin,  80 

Tanutamon,  stela  of,  78 
Taprobane  ( Tamra-parnl,  Dahpa-Ra- 
<vana ),  47,  239,  249,  250,  251, 
252 

Tapti  river,  182 
Tarentum,  219 
Tarim  river,  268 

Tartars,  185,  186,  261,  262,  263,  268 
Tashkend,  269 
Tashkurghan,  269,  281 
Ta-ts'in  (Chinese  name  for  Roman 
Syria),  128,  275,  276,  277 
routes  to,  276,  277 
Tavernier,  168,  170,  171,  172,  179, 
192,  196,  212,  215,  216,  222, 
223,  224,  225,  252,  256,  259, 
281 

Taxila,  69,  1G5,  270 
Taylor,  Dr.,  243,  254,  255,  256 
teaicwood,  36,  152,  201 
Tehama,  107 
Tehenu,  61 

Tell-el-Amarna  tablets,  78 
Tellicherry,  221 
Telugu,  197,  204 
Ter  (Thair)  (see  Tagara),  196 


321 


terebinth,  112 

Teredon,  149 

Terek  Pass,  268 

textile  industry,  196,  256-8 

Thaguri,  269,  270 

Thames,  6 

Thana,  155 

Tharbis,  59 

Tharshish,  61 

Thebais,  103 

Thebes,  3,  52,  58,  63,  68,  120,  121, 
122 

Theinni  (see  Hsen-wi),  273 
Theophrastus,  71,  82,  118,  132,  171, 
177,  178,  179,  192,  213 
Thin*,  48,  261,  269,  273,  274 
Thina  (see  This),  260 
Thomas,  Acts  of,  185 
This,  Land  of,  11,  48,  183,  261-3, 
266,  279 
Thoth,  31 
Thothmes  III,  158 
Thousand  Nights  and  One  Night,  The , 
225 

throw-sticks,  61 
Thurston,  E. , 220 
thyine  wood,  192 
Tiamat,  138 

Tian-shan  mountains,  261,  268,  269 
T’iao-chih,  277 

Tiastenos  (see  Chashtana),  188 
Tiberius,  11,  103,  204,  219,  220,  265 
Tibet,  82,  84,  89,  172,  222,  258,  263, 
269,  272,  273,  279,  281 
Tibetans,  253,  266,  278,  279 
Tibeto-Burman,  254,  255,  278 
gold  of,  25  8-9 
trade-route  across,  272 
Tibullus,  191,  255 
tides,  40,  41,  183 
Tien  (see  Yunnan),  273 
Tien-chu  (see  India),  276 
tigers,  43,  261,  277 
Tiglath-pileser  III,  102,  118,  123,149, 
160 

Tigre,  57,  62,  63,  121 
Tigris,  river,  149 
timber,  4,  149,  156,  205 
Timna,  107 

tin,  33,  42,  45,  77-9,  127,  156,  190, 
193,  217,  220,  221 
Tinnevelly,  211,  ,212,  234 
tinsel,  191 
Tipperah,  259 
Tirur,  234 

Titianus  (see  Maes),  269 
Titus,  11,  102,  103,  220 
tobacco,  105 
tobe,  Somali,  72 
toga,  Roman,  72 
Togarum,  43,  201 
Tokar,  60 
Tokwina,  84,  85 
Tonkin,  246 


sea-trade  of,  246 

topaz,  37,  42,  44,  167-8,  222,  223 
Tordesillas,  treaty  of,  5 5 
Torr,  Cecil,  248 

Torrend,  Rev.  J.,  S.  ].,  his  theory 
of  the  history  of  E.  African 
dialects,  98 

tortoire-shell,  22,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27, 
28,  29,  34,  35,  45,  47,  48,  73, 
126,  136,  137,  227,  259,  276 
tourmaline,  223 
Tozer,  92,  268,  278 
trade  - winds,  navigation  dependent 
upon,  53 

Trajan,  101,  103,  102,109,187,219,220 
trappaga,  40,  182,  245 
Travancore,  80,  152,  172,  194,  204, 
205,  211,  212,  213,  234 
tree-blood  (frankincense  legend),  128, 
130-3,  145,  164 

tree-spirits,  in  serpent  form,  131 
tears,  33,  164 
worship,  236,  279 
tree-wool,  75,  179,  265,  266 
Trichinopoly,  241,  242 
Trivandrum,  234 
Troglodytes,  58,  83 
Tropina,  Tripontari,  212 
Tsengu,  country  of  (Japanese  Ency- 
clopedia), 92 
Tsiemo,  268 
Ts’in,  11,  261-3 
Ts’in  Chi  Hwangti,  261 
Ts’i,  261 
Tsor,  147 

Tsung-ling  (see  PamirsJ,  269 

Tsybikoff,  273 

Tubba  ibn  Hassan,  107 

Tulu,  204,  205 

tunics,  25 

Tunis,  168 

Turanian-Hamitic  system,  163 
Turanian  trade,  172 
race,  253 
turbit,  273 
Turfan,  268 
Turiasso,  70 

Turkestan,  8,  11,  172,  176,  183,  223, 
235,  257,  263,  265,  269,  272, 
273,  274 

trade-routes,  269,  272,  274,  275 
Turks,  172,  184,  185,  266 
Turkharas,  257 
turmeric,  112 
turpentine,  80 
turquoise,  38,  170,  223 
Tuticorin,  215,  237 
Tybis,  234 
Tylor,  E.,  236 
Tylos,  71 

Tyndis,  44,  203,  204,  205,  208 
Tyre,  129,  147,  153,  156,  158,  159, 
213,  264 

Tzinista,  250,  273 


322 


Ubulu  (Obollah,  Apologus,  Obal), 
74,  149 
Uganda,  57 

Ujjain,  UjjenT,  Ujjayini  (see  Ozene), 
10,  65,  187,  188,  199,  236 
Uknu  river,  149 
ultramarine,  170,  171,  223 
U.  S.  Dept,  of  Agriculture,  258 
Unya  -fnuezi,  230 
UpanishaJ, 

Kat/ia,  236 

Uraiyur  (see  Argaru),  241,  242 

Urania,  132 

Uru,  162 

Urumtsi,  268 

Ushas,  229 

ushu-wood,  123,  128 

Ustiu,  128 

Uthek,  121 

UthTrat  = Osiris,  132 

Uzal,  115 

Vaigai  river,  241 
Vaisya  clan,  250 
Valiyar  river,  241 

Van  den  Berg,  L.  W.  C.,  119,  127, 
145 

Vanji,  205 

Varkkallai  (see  Balita,  Pyrrhon),  234, 
235 

varnish,  263 
Varthema,  212 
Varuna,  229 
Vasco  da  Gama,  227 
Vaughn,  130 

Vedas,  229,  235,  257,  281 
Vengurla  Rocks  (see  Sesecrienas ),  202 
Venice,  Venetians,  70,  214 
Venus,  123 

vermilion,  73,  192,  215 
Vespasian,  12,  13,  220 
Vespucci,  3,  55 
vessels,  13,  31,  104,  214 
Victoria  Nyanza,  87,  88,  230 
Vignoli,  215 
Vijaya,  249 
Vijayanagar,  224 
Vikkar,  165 

Vikramaditya  of  Ujjain,  188 
Vikramapura,  Bikrampur,  255 
Vilivayakura  II,  197,  235 
Vincent,  8,  18,  19,  84,  94,  104,  108, 
144,  148,  169,  171,  179,  181, 

201,  202,  216,  259,  272 

Vindhya  mountains,  188,  197,  201, 
224 

vine,  34,  75,  76,  77 
vinegar,  111,  240 
Vinukonda,  196 

Virgil,  76,  87,  123,  125,  135,  153, 

216,  226,  266,  271 

Vishnu,  138,  235,  238,  253 
Vitellius,  78 

Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  81 


Vizadrog,  Vijayadurga  (see  Byzan- 
tium), 201 

Vogue,  Melchior  de,  103 
Volturnus,  68 
votive  offerings,  66 
vulture,  142 

Waddell,  273 

Wadi  Dirbat,  140 

Wadi  ed  Dawasir,  149,  150,  160 

Wady  el  Araba,  101 

Wadi  er  Rumraa,  160 

Wadi  Hadramaut,  116,  117,  119 

Wadi  Maifa,  116 

Wady  Musa,  101,  102 

Wadi  Rakhiya,  119 

Wadi  Rekot,  118 

Wadi  Tyin,  148,  237 

Wadi  Yabrin,  150,  160 

Wahind  canal,  174 

Wassaf,  248 

water,  ill 

Waters  of  Death,  135 
Watt,  73,  76,  80,  81,  83,  84,  99, 
148,  151,  152,  153,  164,  169, 
172,  176,  177,  178,  188,  193, 
194,  215,  222,  224,  256,  259, 
264 

Wa-wat,  57,  121 
weasel,  257 
Weber,  108,  109,  119 
Wei  river,  261 
Wei,  261 
Wellhausen,  143 

Wellsted,  119,  137,  139,  143,  145, 
148,  162 

Western  Ghats,  196 
Western  India,  152,  153,  172,  192, 
197,  230,  271 
whale-fishery,  155,  162 
wheat,  13,  27,  28,  31,  33,  34,  35,  37, 
39,  45,  76,  127,  176,  178,  221 
White  Island,  44,  203 
White  Village  ( Leuke  Korne ),  29, 
101 

Whitman,  Walt,  183 
Wild-Flesh-Eaters  ( Agriophagi ),  22, 
56 

Wilde,  Oscar,  69 

Wilford,  Lieut.,  88,  230,  254,  259 

Willis,  Bailey,  262 

Wilmot,  A.,  97 

Wilson,  209 

Wilson,  C.  R.,  200 

winds, 

Indian  Etesian,  38,  45 
Hippalus,  45 

wine,  13,  24,  28,  31,  33,  36,  37,  38, 
42,  45,  77,  111,  112,  122,  127, 
151,  157,  158,  164,  190,  191, 
192 

Arabian,  42,  77 
Calenian,  77 
Falernian,  77 


323 


wine— continued 
Italian,  24,  77 
Laodicean,  24,  42,  77 
Statanian,  77 
of  Damascus,  77 
of  dates,  77 
of  Greece,  77 
of  raisins,  76,  191 
of  Spain  and  Gaul,  77 
of  Surrentum,  77 
of  the  Roman  republic,  77 
of  the  Seine  and  Moselle,  77 
Witwatersrand,  118 
wood-oil,  248 
wolves,  261 

wool,  71,  72,  76,  157,  257 
woolen  cloth,  257 
Wu-i,  277 

Xerxes,  264 
xylo-balsamum,  112 

Yakin,  the  Sea-country  (see  Bit- 
Yakin),  123,  149 
Yam,  61 
Yang-kivan,  269 
Yangtse  river,  165 
Yarab,  Yarub,  107,  142 
Yarkand,  268,  269,  270 
yam,  42 
Yashhab,  107 
Yates,  266 
Yavanas,  235 

Yellow  River  (see  Hoang-ho),  263, 
268 

Yemama,  El,  160 

Yemen,  51,  77,  80,  89,  91,  101,  102, 

103,  104,  106,  107,  108,  109, 

115,  117,  119,  129,  130,  132, 

140,  142,  147,  154 

Yen-hsi  period,  276 
Yerim,  107 
Younghusband,  273 
Yuan  Chwang,  200 
Yu-chou,  263 
Yudhisthira,  257 

Yueh-chi,  8,  9,  165,  166,  167,  185, 
186,  187,  263 


Yule,  Col.  Henry,  66,  70,  80,  84, 
92,  123,  144,  155,  157,  170, 
202,  203,  205,  234,  235,  237, 
241,  242,  248,  272 
Yiimenhsien,  268 
Yumen-knuan,  269 
Yunnan,  273 

Za  Adp-aba,  67 
Za  Agba,  67 
Za  Awtet,  67 
Zabaesi  Bazen,  9,  67 
Za  Beesi  Angaba,  67 
Za  Demahe,  67 
Zafar  (see  Saphar) 

Zagdur,  67 

Za  Hakale,  9,  10,  66,  67 
Zaire,  75 

Zakawasya  b’Axum,  67 
Za  Les,  67 
Za  Makeda,  67 
Za  Malis,  67 
Za  Masenh,  67 
Zambesi  River,  98,  99 
Zanzibar  (see  Menuthias),  10,  16,  75, 
88,  92,  94,  96,  99,  101,  115, 
139,  173,  230 
trade  with  India,  99 
Zaragoza,  treaty  of,  55 
Za  Senatu,  67 
Za  Sutuwa,  67 
Zayton,  214 
Zazebass  Besedo,  67 
Zechariah,  Book  of,  159 
Zeila  (see  Avalites),  66,  73,  74,  75 
zennar  (see  mateb),  139 
Zenobian  islands  (see  Genaba),  35, 
144-6 
Zeus,  132 
Zimbabwe,  97 
zinc,  69 

Zoscales,  9,  10,  23,  63,  64,  66 

Zosimiadon,  18 

Zula  (Adulis),  60 

Zul  Kamain,  108 

Zwemer,  105,  119,  143,  148,  156 


Map  to  Illustrate  the  Periplus  Maris  Erythraei 

60  A.D. 


u 


Princeton  Theological 


012  01 


r-Soeer  Library 


14 


3937 


